


The Descendants

by Lysandra_Marshmallow



Series: The Descendants [1]
Category: Skulduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy, X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:20:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 89
Words: 68,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27481870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lysandra_Marshmallow/pseuds/Lysandra_Marshmallow
Summary: Things have been busy with the Irish sanctuary. Valkyrie Cain has returned from Meek Ridge and is eager to solve her next case, but she's been gone a long time. Something has been causing a stir amongst the psychic community. The master of the Faceless Ones, the Unnamed, is prophesized to return. This is the most dangerous threat the gang will have faced so far. Will they all succeed and survive? An elite force comes forward and offers their help, will they take it? Darquesse was nothing compared to this. The Faceless Ones were a small challenge. Serpine, the Death Bringer, the White Cleaver, Zombies, Vampires, Remnants, Super-charged Sorcerers, Baron Vengeous, the Maleficent Seven, Argeddion, Kitana and her crew, Batu, the Battle of the Sanctuaries, the Warlocks, Witches, Retchlings, Wraiths and Hollow Men? All positively cuddly. A storm is coming and the world needs its heroes.
Relationships: Ghastly Bespoke/Tanith Low, Skulduggery Pleasant/China Sorrows, Valkyrie Cain/Dexter Vex, Valkyrie Cain/Fletcher Renn, Valkyrie Cain/Hansard
Series: The Descendants [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2008204
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. The Return of Valkyrie Cain

The purring engine of the car calmed her hyper nerves and racing thoughts. It was the soothing sound that she'd come to love, the sound made by none other than Skulduggery Pleasant's automobile. It was a 1954 Bentley R-Type continental and was one of only 208 ever made. The car houses a six-cylinder, 4.5-litre engine, and was retro-fitted by Skulduggery Pleasant with central locking, climate control, satellite navigation and a host of other modern conveniences, and it always made her feel at home. Ever since she was 12. She had her seat angled to perfection and the radio tuned to her favourite station. She was pleasantly surprised, to say the least, when she discovered that Skulduggery hadn't changed her seating adjustments, or re-tuned the radio.

Suddenly the smooth rumbling died and her hair stopped being blown back by the wind. Skulduggery parked inside the newly built Roarheaven and her nerves began jumbling again. She was anxious to see her friends again, to come back to everything she had destroyed. Well, everything _**Darquesse**_ had destroyed. She slowly climbed out of the car and shut the door behind her with a soft thud. She chewed lightly on her bottom lip as she inspected the new town around her. It was still Roarheaven. Dry, dead and hostile. But there was no evidence of the grief and mayhem that the battle had induced upon the very soil it was built on.

The handsome man watched as Valkyrie Cain stepped out from the Bentley and searched her surroundings with a pained expression. She didn't even notice that Skulduggery had moved from the driver's side of the car to stand by him with the remaining Dead Men, Monster Hunters and other friends at the steps to the sanctuary. The glaring sun shone golden light across her pretty face, enhancing the boldness of her dark hair and eyes contrasted with her pale skin. She had definitely grown more beautiful since the last time **_he_** saw her. But not everything had changed. She was still wearing the clothes that Ghastly Bespoke had made her. The tight fitted trousers and black boots. The jacket was tied around her waist, accentuating her slim strong stomach. Her toned arms and shoulders were open to view due to the singlet top she wore. The girl that stood in front of him was the same girl that had often earned the attention of his wandering eyes. Skinny but solid and oh, so gorgeous.

All the bad memories that Valkyrie had tried so hard to abandon came flooding back to her in a river of guilt. Pictures flashed across her mind. Visions of her fourteen-year-old-self waking up from a nightmare and whispering 'Darquesse'. Her sixteen-year-old-self sealing her name, telling Skulduggery her darkest secret, each of the times she'd been taken over by her true name, and when she killed Alice. The last one brought her back to reality with a sharp jolt of panic. She was a murderer, she knew that. You didn't have to kill good people to be a murderer. Just had to have killed. That wasn't what bothered her.

She had killed her sister.

But if there was one thing she'd learned over the past few years it was that she couldn't make up for the horrible things she'd done by hiding away in Meek Ridge. She had to redeem herself by working hard and saving the world and spending more time with her sister. She briefly wondered if she'd be like Skulduggery. Old, considered a hero and still, after hundreds of years, seeking redemption for the terrible things he'd done. 

The man caught the sudden look of anguish on her face and stepped forward, brushing his hand past her bicep, awakening the butterflies in his stomach that had been banished to an eternal slumber until seeing her again. He knew his hidden feelings had grown much stronger since the days they spent trekking through the mountains during war. But that was when she was still only 18, and he had scolded himself for his attraction to her. The age difference might not be much of a concern for mages, and she was legally an adult, but it still felt wrong to him with her being so young. Therefore he had never indulged those feelings. Never acknowledged them. But she was a grown woman now.

All of her troubles and worries receded back into the deepest corner of her subconscious when he touched her. Just a light tap on her bare arm, so fleeting it may have been missed. But it was enough to relight the spark that had been ignited in her heart the first day they met. Of course, she hadn't only left behind her family, friends, job, and life. She'd left behind her hopeless feelings for him. It was stronger now that she was older. It was something that she knew, and hoped, deep down inside that would always come back.

"Looking good, Val. Long-time no see." Dexter Vex grinned, laying on the charm and she inwardly blushed. Valkyrie offered a weak but genuine smile in return.

"You're not looking too bad yourself, Dexter. Settling in one spot agrees with you." Valkyrie said, her voice was strong and didn't betray her overwhelming emotions. It was like a switch flipped in her head and shut down all the things that were making her worry. Her eyes swept down and up his heavily muscled body and came to rest on his attractive face with his chiselled jaw, amazing cheekbones, dark blonde hair and eyes of emerald green infused with the lightest brown. He was one good looking man. Valkyrie made a mental point of checking that her mouth was closed and no drool was escaping. 

Skulduggery Pleasant cleared his throat and tilted his head. The two finally tore their eyes from each other. "Well, when are you going to tell the rest of us how ravishing we look?" he asked, a smile in his voice as he adjusted his tie and collar of his suit. Valkyrie smirked and made her way over to the odd-looking group of people. Although nothing was ever considered odd in Roarheaven this group seemed to still stand out like a sore thumb. 

Of course, there was Skulduggery, impeccable as always. China Sorrows, the most beautiful woman in the world. Tanith Low in all her tight-brown-leathered glory, still brandishing the same sword that had killed the Grotesquery. Next to her was Fletcher Renn as cute as always with his blonde spiky hair and signature grin. Short, handsome Saracen Rue stood on a step higher than everyone else so his height was roughly the same, his stomach was still a little chubby but definitely slimmer than the last time she'd seen him. The job must be doing him well, there was a lot to patch up after Darquesse. Gracious O'Callahan, clad in his Star Wars T-Shirt and jeans side by side with Donegan Bane. He was still extremely skinny and extremely tall and still favoured slim ties with slim jeans. But there was something missing. Ghastly, Anton, Wreath, Kenspeckle, Gordon, and Stephanie. So many lost. But those who remained were there for her, even after everything she did. After everything Darquesse did. So she was grateful.

The first person she ran to was Tanith. Out of everyone here (apart from Skulduggery), Tanith was the only one who understood what it felt like to have an evil side and to have been the cause of so many deaths. Tanith was her sister as much as Alice and probably acted the same age as well. 

"Welcome back, Val" Tanith choked as she was nearly strangled to death by Valkyrie's hug. Next Valkyrie embraced China, not as tightly or strongly though. She wouldn't want to ruin the woman's flawless hair or make-up.

"A pleasure to have you back dear," China said with a sweet smile and patted Valkyrie's cheek affectionately. Next, she moved to Fletcher.

"Still have that ridiculous hair, Fletch." she sighed in mock disappointment. 

"Oh come on, you know you love me. _**And**_ my hair." Fletcher laughed and opened his arms out for a hug. _Why not_ , she thought and responded to his open arms with her own. After a moment she grinned and broke it off.

"Oh, wait. I forgot, I'm still me," she said and graced his arm with a punch. Fletcher's face contorted and she took the opportunity to hug both Donegan and Gracious. 

"To see you again, good it is," Gracious said and Donegan rolled his eyes. 

"He's going to be Yoda for Halloween and he thinks he should practice. It's rather annoying really." Donegan groaned. She smiled and wondered what other quirky little conversations she had missed. Valkyrie held out her arms to Skulduggery.

"Hug?" she asked.

"I've told you a hundred times before that my hugs are only for special occasions," he said definitely. She frowned.

"You literally told me that once." she shot back, going in for the hug. He held out his hand and pushed her shoulder so she was standing an arm's length away from him.

"And you'll do well to remember it," he said stubbornly.

"I do remember it and straight after you gave me a hug. So hug me you grouch," she replied and forced him into a hug. 

"Very well." Skulduggery gave in and patted her back, obvious amusement in his voice. The last person to hug was Dexter. As she was turning to receive her hug his firm arms encircled her and she felt his hard muscles beneath his shirt. Just as the first time they'd hugged, she wasn't surprised by how much she liked it. 

Dexter put his arm around her shoulders and lead her up the steps to the sanctuary. China could barely hide the smile from her lips when she opened the doors. Valkyrie opened her mouth to ask what was so amusing when the loud sound of cheering and party poppers popping filled her ears. She flinched and brought her hands up in a protective stance, her right palm glowing white. The others laughed at her reaction and pushed her along inside where she was greeted by numerous sanctuary mages all saying warm words of welcome. Before she could be overcome and swept away by the crowd Skulduggery stepped in front of her with his hand up, silencing the noises.

"Now, now. I know that everyone is excited to see the sanctuary's best detective back but I'll have to request you to refrain yourselves from any outrageous behaviour," he said loudly. Valkyrie blinked. Did he just call her the sanctuary's best detective? 

"I've only been away for a week anyway. Seriously, I know I'm amazing but please, it can get so annoying. Me being so popular and all." he finished and Valkyrie stifled a laugh. Yeah, that was more like the Skulduggery she knew and loved. 


	2. The 'Sleepover'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all, please just note that I have deviated from the original material in the sense that I have refused to acknowledge the events of any of the books after Dying of the Light. I began this fanfiction before they were released and have written this as if they didn't. Also, I changed the amount of time Valkyrie was in Meek Ridge from 5 years as it is canonically to 14 years, so that makes Alice Edgley 17 going on 18 years old and Valkyrie is 33.

Valkyrie Cain clutched a plump pillow to her chest as she curled up on the couch in Skulduggery Pleasant's house surrounded by the dead men, Tanith and China.

"So, what was the whole point of calling a sleepover on my first night back?" Valkyrie asked, getting comfy on the couch by punching the pillows.

"What do you mean? Reason? Pft, there's not a reason. Why can't we just want to hang out with our BFF?" Tanith laughed unconvincingly. She was hiding something. All of them were. Valkyrie hadn't noticed it before when she was swamped by the worry of her arrival. But now that she was in a calm state of mind she could see all the signs of the 'sleepover' being a private work meeting. Valkyrie shot her friends a sceptical look.

"Really? You're all tense and stuff. We wouldn't have a sleepover at Skulduggery's house with boys, especially Dexter."

"Why especially me?" Dexter asked with a grin and a raised eyebrow. " Don't you like me anymore Skulduggery?"

"Of course I still like you. Unfortunately, Valkyrie seems to like you even more than I do. She seems especially comfortable with your shirts staying in your cupboard." Skulduggery replied bitterly.

"I swear he's like a second father to me." Valkyrie rolled her eyes and let her hair fall in front of her face to hide her blush. She pretended to ignore what Skulduggery had just blatantly said. "Plus, Skulduggery would have told me to go home and see my family."

Valkyrie caught sight of a collective flinch among the group. "This has something to do with my family, doesn't it?" she paled. When she didn't get an answer other than a few guilty looks she bolted to the front door. Dexter caught her around her waist as she ran past and pulled her back. 

She struggled and the more that she squirmed the tighter he held her. Eventually, she broke free and he had to push her to the ground and sit on her. Valkyrie tried not to enjoy it, she really did. But she failed miserably. The only thing stopping her from blushing and smiling was the fact that her family was in trouble. When she realized she wasn't stronger than Dexter, she gave in and sucked in deep breaths of air.

"Damn, you're stronger than you look," he grumbled.

"Says the one who's sitting on me," she muttered.

"Val, you have to stay calm when we tell you this, okay?" Tanith asked her slowly. By the look on her face, Valkyrie could tell it was very serious.

"What's wrong with my family? Tell me," she spoke firmly and assertively, all the playfulness leaving her voice completely.

"Look, a lot has happened since you were here last. Just stay and let us give you the briefing." Saracen instructed her calmly.

"Fine." Valkyrie sighed angrily. "Vex, get off me, would ya?"

"Not a chance, princess," he replied with a grin.

"Our psychics have been having visions lately. It started off a rumour, that turned into a slightly bigger rumour that turned into truth when we received a call from Cassandra Pharos and after her Finbar Wrong." China ignored the whole situation between Dexter and Valkyrie (which, by the way, Skulduggery was keeping a close eye socket on), and barreled straight into business.

"Skulduggery took me with him to Cassandra's to be shown the vision," Tanith said numbly, unconsciously rubbing her shoulders as if she were cold. "You should have seen it, Val. The streets were cracked and smoking, buildings were toppling and mist was covering everything. The entire city of Dublin was frozen and cold, but still dry. I've never heard of anything like that. It was worse than Darquesse. Everything just felt...dead. Roarhaven was a lifeless ghost city. Then it zoomed in on this man." Tanith shuddered and closed her eyes, tears falling silently. Valkyrie had never seen her friend like this.

"It was the Unnamed." Skulduggery stepped in, his voice hard and grave. "He reached towards two teenage girls and you and I came in and shot them with a weird weapon I've never seen before. All three of them exploded into thin air."

"So who's the Unnamed? Wait, Skulduggery told me about him years ago, back when we were investigating Nefarian Serpine. Didn't he have something to do with the Faceless Ones?" Valkyrie asked hesitantly, she had a bad feeling about him. Like just saying his name was a curse.

"He was a legend. A sorcerer's folklore that religious parents used to tell their kids at night to scare them into praying to the Faceless Ones. But if the Faceless Ones are real there is every reason to believe he is as well. He was said to have been the Father to the first Ancients and Faceless Ones. But the Ancients broke away from his teaching to enslave the mortals, becoming independent and rebelling. Not unlike me in my family." China explained.

"He has the ability to show people their worst nightmares and darkest secrets, enough to make people insane. He is the purest form of dark magic in a being of intelligent life." Saracen said grimly, plucking a few loose threads from the blanket he was sitting on. Tanith wiped her eyes and shook her head.

"The Ancients banished the Unnamed when just before they banished the Faceless Ones. He was imprisoned in the depths of the finest line between the purest form of magic and our reality. Deep down in a portal of sorts that feeds off his magic and keeps him comatose and stuck there. It completely shuts off the magic from the body. The very same place is actually theorized to be in the caves underneath Gordon's house. Some people believe that down there was once a floating ball of pure magic energy that was immobilized in a time raft. It would be the most dangerous area of the caves. Lots of pockets of air and portals and time rafts.

"It would be suicide to go down there. But the ancients managed it and split the sphere into two. One half was stolen by a Faceless One who possessed a mortal to gain possession of it. But he was caught in a time raft and the magic was absorbed into his body, only to be activated after a certain amount of time. Like an echo, getting stronger until it's at its peak and is caught in a constant loop around the body. The other half was passed down to the last of the Ancients and absorbed to protect it, being passed down in that bloodline. Or so the tales go." China shrugged.

"Like when Nadir echo shunted me, except it's reversed and gets stronger over time," Valkyrie whispered. "Okay, so we just go down there and kill him in his coma. Sure, it's not the most heroic thing to do but please forgive my urge not to die." Valkyrie rolled her eyes.

"It's not that easy. Not even Gordon would have known the way down that far. And with all those dangerous time rafts, air pockets, portals and unheard of, unknown monster things... I don't like our chances." Dexter told her, looking down underneath him. She screwed up her face.

"Why can't anything ever be easy for once?" she groaned, her brain whirred as she tried to break down the information. "So what would wake him up? He's been down there contained without a problem for...how long? A few billion years? So why now?"

"Well, Argeddion was contained for decades. Why did he wake up when he did. It was just his time." Skulduggery brushed an imaginary speck of lint fro his hat.

"Yes, but you don't really believe that, do you? There must be something clever going on in that brain of yours. Figuratively speaking of course."

"Well, I do have a brilliant mind." he tilted his head in agreement.

"So I bet you're thinking that someone wakes him up." Valkyrie decided.

"My, what a fine detective you've grown to be. You're welcome." Skulduggery said smugly.

"So how does my family tie into all of this?" she asked with a frown.

"Not so much as how they tie into it, but who ties them into it is a better question."

"Okay then, who ties my family into all of it?" She snapped, irritated.

"I think you are smart enough to figure that out yourself." Skulduggery said happily.

"Is it anything to do with the two girls?" Valkyrie growled.

"Bingo!" Skulduggery hummed cheerily. "We've sent out interrogation warrants for each of them and we had several reports of girls matching their description."

"So why don't we actually go get them?" Valkyrie suggested like it was the most obvious thing in the world and she was speaking to a particularly annoying toddler.

"That man that mugged your mum back when you were sixteen or so had a friend who is a sorcerer. When he got out of jail a few years ago he told this friend all about what happened. The friend was a Faceless One fanatic, Arthur Dagan-"

"I hate him," she mumbled under her breath.

"-and he figured out it was your family. He told everyone, they were left alone for the most part because everyone was too scared to cross us. But then..." Skulduggery trailed off.

"Then what?" Valkyrie asked. Worry was wrapped around her voice.

"Then we started getting reports of the two girls being seen around your family. Skulduggery sent Tanith and me to give them the tip to move. They went to Greece for around five years and all reports of the girls stopped coming in ever since they left. Then we got more sightings of them in Greece, Athens. So we sent Fletcher over and they moved to Cyprus. That one only lasted a few months before we were swarmed with reports. So Fletcher teleported them all over to Sydney. They've been there ever since but we've started getting reports again so we did some extra digging and found out what school they go to. They're actually going to the same school as-" Dexter explained.

"Alice" Valkyrie gasped. The news gave her a sudden burst of energy and she threw Dexter off of her and ran to the door, slamming it shut behind her.

"Should we...?" Dexter pointed towards the door.

"She'll be back," Saracen said placidly. Surely enough, a moment later Valkyrie walked back into the living room.

"I need a lift." She said awkwardly and swung her leg back and forth, her boot scraping the floorboards.

"Take it easy, Val. You need to sleep and tomorrow we're taking Fletcher and finding them. It should be easy because we know exactly where they'll be. We also have a new fighter. Tanith has brought in her nephew and he's ready to come on the mission with us." Saracen said with a chuckle. Valkyrie's sheepish expression was replaced with a look of rage.

"What?! My family is in danger. My _**sister**_ is in danger. We need to go now." she said firmly, her voice getting louder.

"You need to rest," Dexter said softly and put his hand on her back.

"Fine," she huffed, visibly calmer. Her boots clicked against the floor as she stormed upstairs to the room Skulduggery installed for her. 

"I'll go talk to her." Tanith piped up just as Dexter was halfway to the stairs. Instead, he plopped himself down on an armchair. As Dexter watched the fire he thought about Valkyrie. She was so strong-willed that she managed to push his entire weight off of herself when she heard her family was in danger. So caring and strong. 


	3. Sisters

Tanith found Valkyrie sitting on the end of her bed staring glassy-eyed at the blank wall in front of her. She quietly sat down next to her dark-haired friend and took her sword out. The recently polished blade reflected the lights and cast a pretty pattern onto the wall Valkyrie was staring at.

"So, the end of the world is coming again," Tanith said with a fed-up sigh and she slid her sword back into its scabbard. "I'm getting too old for this."

"Mmm," Valkyrie grunted, not showing any expression.

"Okay, something is definitely wrong with the universe if **_the_** Valkyrie Cain isn't jumping on the opportunity to be sarcastic." Tanith frowned, wide-eyed in mock horror. Valkyrie gave a small smile and exhaled.

"I really don't want Alice to be brought into this world. I've been through so much and I know as well as anyone how dangerous this life is. I don't want that life for her." she ruffled her hair and rubbed her eyes. She looked truly tired.

"I know, Val. Maybe it's best if she does know. If she's going to be a target than at least she can defend herself. Plus, we already know she has magic. If she bonded with the sceptre then it's definite." Tanith replied and began braiding Valkyrie's hair in a single fishtail.

"I guess. Wait. How do you know about the sceptre?" Valkyrie panicked.

"Some Roarheaven mages saw you and told a few people. Skulduggery stopped the information from spreading but not before it got to us." Tanith admitted.

"Us?"

"Yeah, Skulduggery, me, the Dead Men, Monster Hunters, China. Us." Tanith nodded and reached forward to pull a hairband from around Valkyrie's wrist.

"Oh no." the colour drained from Valkyrie's face.

"We all understand why you did it. You had no choice. It was admirable that you were strong enough to do what needed to be done to save the world. Skulduggery couldn't." Tanith pointed out.

"It's not admirable. It's terrible. And now...." Valkyrie began. She was about to shut her mouth and keep her newest secret to herself but something stopped her. It was secrets that had gotten her into the mess she was in. If more people had known she was Darquesse she might have been able to have been stopped. So she gave in.

"Tanith, I have to tell you something. I've been contemplating on who to tell, but I can't tell Skulduggery." She confessed.

"Oh good god. If Skulduggery doesn't know it must be pretty bad." Tanith said, her face the perfect picture of concern.

"Well..." Valkyrie tilted her head guiltily.

"Oh come on Val! Please don't tell me it's another Vampire!" Tanith pleaded with a hopeful expression.

"What! No way!" Valkyrie gagged in reply and pretended to shove her fingers down her throat.

"Okay, that's a good thing I guess." Tanith nodded and breathed in and out loudly. "It can't be worse than Caelen, can it?"

"Well..." Valkyrie repeated.

"Okay, with you being Darquesse a ten, you dating Caelen a seven, and you liking Dexter a one, what would you rate it?" Tanith scrunched up her face and closed her eyes in anticipation. Clenching her fists on her sword handle.

"WAIT, WHAT?!" Valkyrie shouted in surprise.

"Seriously Val? You didn't think I knew you had a thing for Dexter? If that was it then you gave me a heart attack for no reason." Tanith sighed in relief and fanned her red face with her hands.

"Well, why are you being so calm about this! It's an apocalypse! Faceless Ones take me away now!" she yelled and flopped down backward on the pillows, dramatically pretending she fainted with a delicate arm on her forehead.

"Val, it's not a big deal at all! Is that what this is all about? You falling for Vex?"

"Okay, one, I haven't 'fallen' for Dexter...Its...a minor crush. Two, it is a major problem!"

"Val, let's not lie to ourselves here, You've fallen for him. Ever since that Requiem Ball, you have had a thing for him. And why is it such a big deal?" Tanith grinned.

"Well, there are many reasons! One, he's a few hundred years older than me! He probably thinks of me as a kid! Two, he knows about Caelan and Fletcher and what I did! Three, he knows that I was Darquesse! Four, he's a Dead Man and is one of the most important sorcerors in history. Five, he's very sought after. Six, Skulduggery is going to find it weird that his (practically) daughter has a thing for his best friend. Seven, Saracen knows things! Eight, Saracen and Dexter are best friends so if Saracen knows then Dexter does, or will soon! Nine, if he finds out it will ruin our friendship! Ten, he probably likes someone else. Eleven, he has dated so many people and all I'd ever be is a tiny polaroid in his collection of photographs!" Valkyrie gasped for breath when she had finished. Tanith paused for a while, trying to process everything she had heard and prepared to dive into a rant of her own.

"Age means nothing to sorcerers, Val! Fletcher and Caelan happened, like what? Eighteen years ago? You are not Darquesse anymore, you never really were, she was someone else in your body. If anything he'd want you more knowing you can handle so much. You're just as famous than Dex, and just as sought after. People don't blame you for Darquesse anymore! Not after you saved the world! Again, might I add! Skulduggery can build a bridge and get over it. And if Saracen has been pestered by someone as strong-willed, annoying and persistent as Dexter Vex for hundreds of years and not cave in, I'm sure he can handle him for a few more centuries! Dexter isn't involved with anyone at the moment, and if he was interested in someone, I'd bet my house on you. Val, there is a reason why you'd be the polaroid and not just another ordinary picture. You'd stand out against all the others because you are amazing and anyone would be lucky to have you." Tanith smiled at Valkyrie, who looked more like a child now than she ever had. It warmed a part of her to know that Valkyrie would come to her before Skulduggery for something. Even if it was boy advice.

"Tanith, you are always there for me when I need you to tell me the truth. Now is one of those times."

"I just told you what I honestly thought. Have I ever been wrong yet?"

"Let me think about it for a minute..." Valkyrie pondered in silence and Tanith laughed. "You promised that everything would be okay in the end. But it's not. Ghastly is...gone. Shudder is gone. We were betrayed by Ravel. Stephanie died. Carol was killed, Kenspeckle died, so did Bliss, and Gordon, and Solomon, and Melancholia."

"I said everything would be okay. Not perfect. I miss everyone too, especially Ghastly. I...it hurts me every day knowing that I'll never have that steak. But we need to let go of the past. Don't you think I don't know what this is really about? I know you're scared. Sure, those reasons you just gave me might be part of it, but they only make up twenty percent. You're scared of what happened before. That you won't be a good girlfriend or you'll hurt him. You're scared that he'll hurt you. Scared of what Fletcher will think because you don't want to hurt him again. I've been where you are now, Val. The seventy years I have on you didn't go to waste. I've learned from my mistakes, so trust me. You have to tell him." Tanith said, her voice suddenly flatter, and the grin fading. 

"Tanith...How? How can I get over everything that's happened? I...I **_killed Alice_**. I killed **_so many people_** , Tanith."

"I understand that it's hard to let go. I never said to get over it, those scars will always be there. But we don't have to let it stop us. Remember I was in your shoes as well. When I was taken over by the remnant I did so many things I regret. Before all that, I had the chance to tell Ghastly how I felt, and I never did. And now look at what happened. I'll never get the chance to tell him." Tanith's voice cracked as she held back her tears.

"Okay...I think I'll tell him. Just... not yet."

"Whenever you're ready. Just don't wait too long." Tanith advised.

"Okay." Valkyrie agreed and Tanith got up to leave. "And Tanith?"

"Yeah?" she said and turned back.

"Thanks for being there for me," Valkyrie said sincerely.

"No problem. That's what sisters are for, Val." Tanith gave a sad smile and walked out, leaving Valkyrie to herself.


	4. Finally Normal

Valkyrie made her way downstairs after staring at the wall for another twenty minutes to find that Tanith and China had gone home, leaving Skulduggery, Dexter and Saracen. There was a movie playing on the T.V and she sat down on the couch next to Dexter.

"What are you watching?" she asked casually, trying to hide the fact that she was so tired she could barely hold her eyes open.

"X-men Apocalypse," Saracen replied in melancholy. "I wanted to watch 'Me Before You' but they said it wasn't manly enough." He grumbled.

"Oh, I wanted to watch that movie." Valkyrie nodded.

"See! It's not girly!" Saracen protested.

"Well, I didn't say that. It's more of a chick flick." Valkyrie said and gave him an apologetic look. Saracen's shoulders sagged and he shut up.

"Hey, Saracen, you look a lot like Hugh Jackman," Valkyrie said, trying to change the subject in an attempt not to make Saracen feel any worse.

"Yeah, he's a better version of Saracen." Dexter snorted.

"Hey!" Saracen objected. "No one is a better version of me! Not even a...a...uh, what is he again?"

"Yeah, please continue convincing us." Vex raised an eyebrow, clearly amused.

"Saracen, if you have no idea who he is, then how can you be so sure you're better than him?" Valkyrie asked and zipped up her jacket shivering.

"Because I know things..." Saracen said unsurely.

"What is your magic anyways. I know you've said that knowing things is a result of your magic but what is your actual magic?" Valkyrie questioned, pulling her best wide-eyed puppy-dog face. "You have to tell us sooner or later. Please!"

"Seriously, Val? A puppy-dog face? Nice try, but I've been trying to find out for centuries." Dexter laughed.

"The puppy-dog face is tempting, it really is." Saracen nodded slowly in appreciation. "That's something Dexter never tried. You know what, fine, I'll tell you."

"What!" Dexter burst out, standing up in pretend anger. "No way! That's so not fair. Saracen!"

"Yay! Thanks!" Valkyrie grinned and leaned over to the armchair next to the couch she was sitting on to give Saracen a peck on the cheek. Saracen then whispered quiet nonsense in her ear and Valkyrie's eyes widened to tease Dexter.

"Not cool, Val." He grumbled and crossed his arms grumpily.

"Oh, don't worry Dexter. I'm sure Valkyrie would be all too happy to give you a kiss as well." Skulduggery pestered his friend. Valkyrie glared at him.

"Skulduggery, I swear if you say something like that one more time I will ask Danny to send Xena over just so she can bury you in your backyard." She growled menacingly.

"Oh! She just owned you!" Dexter laughed.

"She does not 'own' me. I am over 400 years old." Skulduggery said as if Dexter was stupid.

"Obviously, if you were any younger then maybe you'd be up with the times. I bet the last movie you watched, except for this one now, was that one with Grace Kelly." Valkyrie sassed. Skulduggery remained quiet.

"She totally burned you." Saracen chortled.

"I am not burned. I am not even scorched. This conversation is unworthy of my superior intelligence." Skulduggery said poshly and left to go and 'meditate' in another living room. When he left Valkyrie, Dexter and Saracen all erupted in laughter. The laughter proved itself contagious. There are those times when you laugh at something that isn't even that funny and then you forget what you're laughing about and just laugh at yourself laughing. This was one of those times.

Valkyrie managed to almost fall of the couch and Dexter caught her again, still laughing. Valkyrie laughed so hard she actually started crying. Saracen eyed the pair gleefully. Of course, he knew something was different in the way they acted around each other. To Valkyrie and Dexter, they finally felt normal. Just two people hanging out. Oh, and they almost forgot Saracen was there too.

After the laughter died down and the trio continued watching the movie. Valkyrie tried so hard to stay awake till the end but she was just too tired. The last thing she remembered was closing her eyes and feeling warm and comfortable.


	5. The Nightmare

_She was running. Sweat dripped from her face, mixing with the thundering rain and the solution caused her clothes to cling to her skin. Valkyrie Cain glanced over her shoulder and saw nothing but darkness. She didn't know what she was running from, but that didn't stop her from fleeing from it. Her muscles weren't burning and she didn't feel out of breath. It was a strange sensation. Soon enough she came to a shop window and the smooth glass reflected her image. She looked around and when she was satisfied that nothing was behind her she had a better look at herself._

_But the more she looked the more she noticed how unlike her the image was. The reflection was of a teenage girl with long, curly hair of the darkest brown that was hanging wet from the rain. The girl was slightly shorter than Valkyrie, and she was curvier and her upper body muscles were way less defined. But the girl still had strong shapely legs. The girl in the reflection had golden hazel brown eyes speckled with deep green and they were full of fear. Valkyrie saw a tall shadowy figure of a middle-aged man behind her in the glass. She whirled and the man closed his fist around her throat, slamming her through the glass. Long shards embedded themselves in her arms, drawing blood. She glanced up at the man pulling back his fist to punch her and she turned her head and..._

Valkyrie woke with a start, greeted by her own uneven breathing. Her vision was filled with fuzzy blackness. She momentarily forgot where she was. Her skin was sweaty and she felt warm. She must have fallen asleep on the couch last night. Valkyrie's heart skipped a beat when she realized that her head was resting in Dexter's lap and he had fallen asleep sitting up with an arm around her. Saracen was nowhere to be seen. Valkyrie sighed in relief that what happened had only been a dream and she laid back down.

The dream had felt so real. Like it had actually happened to someone and she was somehow connected to it. She tried to fall back asleep but the girl in the reflection kept coming into her mind. There was something about her that felt almost familiar. Valkyrie groaned in frustration and rubbed her eyes. Dexter moved his arm and Valkyrie froze. He hoped she didn't wake him up. She slowly and carefully climbed off of the couch and tip-toed over to the stairs. But on her way she tripped over a short table, making an enormous bang.

"Oh, shh...sugar." She hissed and tried to pick up everything she dropped.

"Couldn't sleep, huh?" a deep, groggy voice said from behind her. Her heart raced and she gave a nervous laugh.

"Yeah, sorry that I woke you up. Stupid table." She muttered.

"Don't worry about it." He waved a hand lazily. "Bad dream?"

"Yeah, kind of. It was weird." Valkyrie finished cleaning up her mess and turned towards Dexter.

"I'm guessing you're going up to your bedroom. So how about I'll walk you up there and you can tell me about this dream of yours?" he asked her and he got up from the couch and stretched, his arms flexing and she had to look away before she started dribbling.

"Well, it started off with me running..." Valkyrie began telling Dexter the dream as they made their way upstairs and down the hall. He listened intently and didn't respond in any way apart from nodding. They stood outside Valkyrie's room until she finished her tale.

"So what do you think it was?" she asked and opened the door to her room, beckoning for him to come inside.

"It sounds a lot like a form of vision, but you're not psychic." Dexter frowned and leaned against the wall next to her bed.

"Aren't I? I really could be anything. No one knows for sure what my power is or how it's possible I have any power at all after my actual source of magic took a hike. Weird things have been happening. Like I feel a connection towards dogs. They listen to me, ya know. It's freaky. What am I? A dog whisperer who shoots white lightning, makes energy force fields and explosions, and now I might be able to see the future too?" she sighed as she furiously pulled back her bed covers and tucked in, pulled her legs behind her and facing him.

"I really don't know. Maybe you **_are_** a type of psychic. Probably not a very powerful one - no offence - but there is the possibility. You really shouldn't have any magic in you at all. You got your powers after your surge, but there would have been no magic for your surge to amplify. There is nowhere for that magic to come from." Dexter scratched his jaw and scowled in concentration. _Damn_ ** _,_** Valkyrie thought, _he even looks amazing when he pulls a stupid face_. She stared dreamily at his strong arms.

"Val?" she heard him call her name and she snapped out of her daze.

"Hmm?" she mumbled sleepily and smoothed back her hair to distract herself from him.

"I think you're tired. I just said that maybe it's got something to do with your ancestry." He grinned at her, his eyes wandering to the sigil on her arm. "Or maybe the vision, if that's what it was, had something to do with the sigil instead of your mysterious source of magic."

"My ancestry?" she asked, completely unfocused. Oh, how badly she wanted to be his. She had never longed for Fletcher's company like she was with him. She'd never wanted strong, handsome Caelen to hold her like she wanted Dexter to do. This was a different experience entirely.

"Yeah, you're descended from the last of the Ancients and maybe that's why you have different magic for some reason." He shrugged. "I can tell that you're exhausted so I'll let you get some rest. Tomorrow's going to be a big day."

"Yay," Valkyrie said sarcastically and wondered whether he was going to stay with her for the night. _Oh, what a nightmare that would be. What if I drool, or fart, or burp or say something embarrassing in my sleep? Please just save me the agony and leave, goodbye, adios, goodnight, sayonara,_ she thought. But when he turned to walk out the door she was shocked at how disappointed she was. _Well, I didn't actually mean it, ya big hunk._

"Goodnight, Valkyrie. And you should really sleep. First thing tomorrow you're going to meet Ellion Rune." Vex told her before walking out the door. She didn't pick up on his hesitation to go. Unknown to Valkyrie, he didn't want to leave her either. 


	6. Ellion Rune

Light glared through Valkyrie's eyelids so she clamped them shut tighter and rolled over. She could hear noises from downstairs. Voices, sizzling frypans and the scrape of toast being buttered. The wonderful scent of eggs and bacon wafted in the air and she found her drive to get up. Valkyrie dressed in her armoured clothes and unbraided her hair, letting it fall in slight waves down her back. Once she was ready she found hopped down the stairs two at a time and cheerfully turned down the hallway and continued on her way to the kitchen. She saw Dexter coming from the opposite corridor and she shot him a smirk before bolting for the last stool at the bench.

"Too slow." She tutted and piled her plate with eggs, bacon and toast. Dexter laughed good-naturedly and stood across from her. He filled her a glass of orange juice before pouring one for himself. Tanith was laughing with Saracen in the seats next to her, Skulduggery was standing in the corner quietly thinking and a boy Valkyrie didn't know was cooking.

"Hey Tanith, who's that?" she nudged her friend's shoulder and gestured her cup towards the boy before taking a sip of her drink. Dexter spun around and looked over his shoulder.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot you two don't know each other." Tanith said and when the young boy came over with the last plate of bacon she smiled at him.

"Hey Ell, this is Valkyrie Cain, Val this is my nephew Ellion Rune. Ellion is going to be helping us take in those girls today." Tanith introduced him. He was young. Maybe around 20 years old, tall, with messy dark brown hair and chocolate coloured eyes. Valkyrie had to admit he was a quite good looking young thing. Dexter cleared his throat loudly and glared at the boy threateningly. Luckily Valkyrie missed the dirty look completely and continued eating.

"Hi, wow, you and Tanith look nothing alike," Valkyrie commented and shoved a fork full of eggs in her mouth.

"Yeah," Ellion laughed nervously with a glance at Dexter who was still watching the exchange attentively. "My dad is her brother but I look like my mum."

"That makes sense. Cool name, by the way. Rune...do you practice symbols like China?" Valkyrie questioned and ate more bacon.

"No, actually, I'm an Adept. I'm a trained assassin and I have the ability to make objects invisible or look like something else entirely. My first name according to the poster I got when I was a baby, has many meanings." He shot a scowl at Tanith who looked away sheepishly. "E is for excellence, your passion, your drive. L is for little, the little things you do. L is for love, everlasting. I is for interest, you show in others. O is for outlook, pleasing to all. N is for noble, your regal bearing." He continued in a mocking baby voice.

"What! It was a cute poster!" Tanith said defensively and Saracen snorted. Ellion rolled his eyes.

"I can also turn invisible which is why I chose the name rune. It means 'secret' based on the old Norse word rún. Because I can slip in and out of anywhere and it'll be my secret because no one will know I was there." He replied. Valkyrie paused with her cup halfway to her lips.

"You can turn invisible?" She asked, her eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, it sounds pretty cliché but it's handy. Only really powerful elementals would be able to know I'm there. Only a handful now, after the war and everything. Detective Pleasant here, maybe a few others around the world, Ghastly Bespoke would have as well." He replied, saying the last part in barely a whisper with a hesitant glance at his aunt.

"That's so cool!" she exclaimed and Dexter's shoulders drooped.

"Sorry Vex, it looks like you've been replaced." Skulduggery said sadly and came over from the wall with a tilt of his head. Valkyrie glared at him so fiercely it would have made even the bravest men run in the other direction.

"My offer for Danny to visit still stands by the way. You may have banned Xena from your car and I had to leave her with Danny but he can still bring her over when he does his concert in Ireland next week." She hissed and Skulduggery went quiet.

"Who's Xena?" Ellion asked.

"She's my dog. Skull's terrified of her and was so cruel as to ban the sweet little dog from his car and I had to leave her with Danny. I feel sorry for him, Xena never really liked him much. Poor Danny. He's a good friend I made in America." Valkyrie said innocently.

"I think you may be over exaggerating. I was not terrified, I was wary. That dog is many things, ravenous, dirty, simple-minded...but little is certainly not one of them." Skulduggery objected.

"Oh come on. She's nothing but an obedient, adorable, lovable, pet." Valkyrie smiled sweetly. "I think I have a picture of her actually. Here." Valkyrie passed Ellion her phone and he grinned when he saw the large German Sheppard chewing mercilessly on Valkyrie's shredded slipper.

"Wow, that's a big dog." Ellion laughed and gave her back her phone. Suddenly their meal was interrupted by a loud pop and Fletcher Renn was standing behind her. She promptly twisted round and punched him.

"Oww." He groaned, rubbing his shoulder. "That punch gets harder every time I see you."

"The level of force I put into the punch increases by the level of my irritation caused by you." She shrugged and went back to her meal.

"Well as soon as they've all finished eating we'll head off. There's a lot to do." Skulduggery said pointedly to Valkyrie as she was the one with the most on her plate. "Maybe if **_some of us_** weren't too busy showing pictures of monster-dogs we'd be ready. The fact that **_some of us_** can talk the ears off of an elephant also helps."

Valkyrie glared at him and pointedly opened her mouth which was full of half-chewed bacon, egg, and toast mush, as wide as she could.

"Well, I'm proud to say you have grown to be a lovely and mature young woman at the age of thirty-three." He told her and adjusted his hat. 

She scowled and Tanith gasped. Saracen dropped his fork with a clang. Dexter froze with his cup inches off the table. Ellion dropped the frypan he was taking to the sink and Fletcher's hair went pail. Everything went quiet. Valkyrie slowly stood up and her stool screeched across the floor. Dexter and Fletcher took a step back and Tanith and Saracen shuffled sideways. Skulduggery just stood there, not daring to make a move.


	7. Big Mistake

"What did you say?" Valkyrie whispered ominously.

"Uh..." Skulduggery stuttered. Valkyrie took a step closer to him and Tanith got out her phone and dialled the emergency sanctuary number with her finger hovering over the call button in case.

"Did you just tell everyone a lady's age?" She growled and Skulduggery leaned backwards slowly.

"Um..." he gulped and Valkyrie went to launch herself at him. He put his hand up and she stopped halfway. "Wait! This is one of Ghastly's hats!" he said hurriedly and slowly put the hat on the bench and took a deep breath.

As soon as he stepped away from the hat Valkyrie jumped on his back and began raining punches down on his head, shrieking a long string of curses. He wobbled around the kitchen and fell over the frypan, slipping onto the floor. She grabbed him by the collar and shook his bones.

"Don't you ever say how old I am again!" she screamed at him and pushed her hair off her face as Dexter helped her up.

"That was a big mistake, Skull." he chastised.

"I don't see why you're getting so upset. You didn't mind telling people how old you were before you left for America." Skulduggery grumbled and grabbed onto the benchtop to pull himself up.

"That was back when I was the cool young teenager saving the world! Not the old woman who has been sitting in a rocking chair out in the country in America for the past however many years!" she shrieked and raced at him with a frypan she grabbed from the bench behind her.

He winced and curled up protecting his skull. But instead of hitting him over the head with it, she decided to do something unmentionable. It was completely mortifying for Skulduggery, the most horrible torturous thing she could have done. She grabbed his hat from the bench, flipped it upside down and tipped the entire contents of the pan into it, adding a little bit of orange juice and mixing it with a whisk. She then put Skulduggery's hat and the mixture of egg, juice, and bacon seeped like a waterfall from under the hat and all over the suit. Skulduggery sat there on the floor looking like a science project gone wrong. Slowly he stood up and cleared his throat, taking off his hat and pulling a large piece of bacon out of it.

"That was my favourite suit." He said and stood as if he were at a funeral, remembering the good times he and his suit had shared together. Then he launched into a counter-attack at Valkyrie, flinging the eggs at her straight from the carton. They cracked against the wall right near her head and she gasped as she dodged. Skulduggery started throwing wet napkins at her and before they could hit her Dexter pulled her behind the other side of the bench and they ducked down. Vex took a carton of eggs and they all automatically split into teams.

Dexter popped up and chucked the egg at Skulduggery but an unsuspecting Fletcher got caught in the crossfire. His hair got the full force of the egg and he wailed in anger. Fletcher then took a packet of bacon and threw it at Dexter, who ducked. But then the bacon slapped Tanith right in the face. She dropped her phone on the floor and glared at Fletcher. The poor boy's face went as yellow as the egg in his hair. Tanith lifted an egg up into the air and hit it with the flat end of her sword like a baseball bat. The egg whites sprayed across Fletcher's face and the yolk landed in the middle of his hair. Ellion decided to get involved and started spraying the bottle of orange juice all over his aunt. Tanith stood there, shocked and covered in sticky orange liquid. Saracen, as much of a gentleman as always, leapt to his ex-girlfriend's defence by tossing pieces of toast at Ellion like frisbees.

Unfortunately, it blew over to a huge food fight and Tanith forgot about her phone which was still on the sanctuary's emergency dial. It was only a matter of time before Valkyrie kneeled on the phone and the sanctuary was called by accident. Not long after that the Dead Men, Fletcher, Tanith, and Ellion were standing side by side in a straight line outside Skulduggery's house being reprimanded by Grand mage China Sorrows in front of a small army of cleavers.

China looked as immaculate as always from her glossy hair to her fabulous shoes. That was until Skulduggery decided to spread the love and China ended up with a fried egg sliding down her face, leaving a trail looking a lot like snail slime. She glared at him and nodded to a cleaver, who passed her a bottle of orange juice. She ordered everyone to stay still and walked along the line, pouring the juice over everyone's heads, one by one until the bottle was empty.

"There we go." she sighed happily and clasped her soft hands with their perfectly manicured nails together. "Now, don't you lot have work to do. Get to it, or I'll have you all fired."


	8. Planning Ahead

By the time everyone had showered and cleaned up Skulduggery's kitchen it was 2 O'Clock. The egg had dried everywhere. It was decided that only Skulduggery, Tanith, and Ellion would be going to arrest the girls. Valkyrie, Dexter, and Saracen were assigned to pick up Melissa and Desmond, take Alice and wait for the others at Valkyrie's parent's house to ensure Valkyrie's family were safe.

So first Fletcher would be teleporting Valkyrie, Dexter, and Saracen to the Edgley house where they would carry out their side of the mission. Then Fletcher would teleport back to get Skulduggery, Tanith and Ellion and the four would wait outside the school till they saw the others driving away before they snuck in and arrested the girls. When everything was done and everyone was back at the Edgley's house they would all teleport back to the Irish Sanctuary.

"I don't see why we have to go in two separate teams. Saracen said it himself many times! When the dead men split up bad things happen. That's how we lost Ghastly and Anton. That's how Erskine had the guts to do what he did. Because the Dead Men disbanded all those years ago. Why wouldn't we learn from our mistakes?" Valkyrie questioned.

"Valkyrie, it's a simple mission, sneak in and out, nothing dangerous," Dexter told her.

"I think Val's right. If you hadn't have split up Ghastly and Anton would still be alive. Why should we take the chances now?" Tanith rebutted, it was easy to see how much Ghastly's death scarred her. She was once a strong warrior who would do what needed to be done, sacrifices had to be made. But now she lost her ruthless touch.

"Tanith, this is different. What happened with the other Dead Men was because there was actually a significant enemy." Ellion voiced his opinion forcefully.

"Yes, but we can't underestimate people. I stand by what I said." Saracen said.

"Exactly! Why can't we just all teleport over to my parent's house, pick them up, go to the school, pull out Alice and then get the two girls at the same time and then take Fletcher back to Ireland?"

"I'm not a bus," Fletcher whined from across the meeting table in the briefing room where everyone sat to plan ahead. That's where they were now. Valkyrie had always hated this room.

"Think about it Valkyrie. What are the reasons I could possibly have for not doing what you just said?" Skulduggery asked her and Fletcher was ignored altogether.

"To waste time? Make me angry? Add dramatic flair? Make everything needlessly complicated to make yourself look better?" Valkyrie grumbled sarcastically.

"It means that if your family decides to stay where they are living in Australia, Alice can be accepted back at school without being associated with the disappearance of the two girls, also leaving no leads back to us for the girl's possible accomplices," Dexter explained, if it had been anyone else telling her this she would have continued to argue and everyone knew that. Even Skulduggery. But Skulduggery also knew that her family was a sensitive subject and not to push her so he didn't comment.

"Fine, but we still get to have some dramatic flair to make us look awesome, Right?" Valkyrie asked and stood from her chair.

"Naturally." Skulduggery replied and put on his food-free hat onto his gleaming white head. "Well, come on then. We have some bad guys to catch."


	9. Melissa Edgley

Valkyrie gave Fletcher her signature farewell and turned to the front door of her family's house. Fletcher teleported away with the typical expression of pain his face is branded with when he had been punched by Valkyrie Cain. Dexter watched as Valkyrie's dark eyes scanned the whole property, thinking about how beautiful she was the whole time.

As for the house, well, it was wide and long with a high roof. It was a single story, but modern and still elegant looking. The wind blew through the tall, thick bushes that grew around the perimeter of the land, and the leaves of the potted palm trees on the front veranda rustled. Light sparkled through the foliage leaving pretty spot-lights flickering on the charcoal tiles and playing lightly on a faded set of a wooden table and chairs.

Dexter and Saracen stood either side of Valkyrie and her hand shook as she reached out to push the simple black doorbell that stood out against the cream-coloured paint of the house. The ring could be heard from inside the house along with a feminine voice yelling out that she was coming. Valkyrie's mouth went as dry as the desert outside the pyramid of the Brides of Blood Tears. Dexter slipped his hand around her arm and gave her a reassuring squeeze. Valkyrie was too scared to even think anything of the close contact with him at that moment. She glimpsed shadows moving through the glass panels in the wooden door and took a deep breath.

The black painted door swung open revealing Melissa Edgley. She looked a bit older than the last time Valkyrie saw her. Some of her hair had gone grey and there were a few wrinkles here and there, but she had definitely aged well. For a while, everyone just stood where they were in awkward silence. Valkyrie still held her breath and after she couldn't hold it any longer she sighed.

"Hey, mum." She said quietly with a small smile, wondering how her mother would take her back after 16 years. Melissa suddenly broke down crying and hurled herself at her daughter, trapping Valkyrie in a tight squeeze.

"Stephanie! Oh! I knew you'd come home!" Melissa wept.

"Mum, I missed you all so much!" Valkyrie replied with tears in her eyes.

"Oh, and Dexter, how lovely to see you again!" Melissa said and when he turned away to check they weren't being watched in the street she winked at Valkyrie and whispered, "He's a good one Steph."

"Mum!" Valkyrie whisper/shouted. Melissa quickly covered up her last comment by turning to Saracen.

"And who's this?" she asked.

"Hello, Mrs Edgley, my name is Saracen Rue. Your daughter is a good friend of mine and it's truly an honour to meet the mother of one of the finest people I've ever met. There aren't many people in this world I'd trust my life with, but your daughter is one of them." Saracen gave the woman a charming smile and stretched out to shake her hand.

"Well, don't just stand outside like a bunch of large garden gnomes! Come on in. Make yourselves at home." Melissa sniffed and shuffled off into the house, drying her eyes. The trio followed her inside and Valkyrie smiled at the warm domesticity of the house. The place where she lived in Meek Ridge was huge and lovely, but it lacked the homey touch that living with loved ones brought along.

"Actually, mum, we came to tell you that we need to get Alice from school. Get Dad and we need to pick her up, come back here and Fletcher will take us home, to Ireland." Valkyrie told her mother and didn't bother sitting down.

"Why? Is something wrong? Is that Darquesse woman back?" her mother panicked and Valkyrie stiffened at the name. Dexter thought it was best to step in and smooth things over before Valkyrie got even more upset.

"No, not at all Mrs Edgley. It's just a precaution, it won't be permanent." He responded.

"We just need to bring you into the sanctuary for a few days while we question a suspect we think has been hiding in the area." Saracen nodded and Melissa relaxed.

"Oh, alright then. Well, Desmond's gone to the shops. I guess it's lucky he has a day off from work today, he should be home anytime now." She informed them.

"Good. In the meantime, you, Dexter and me are going to pick Alice up from school early, okay?" Valkyrie told her mother and checked her watch. It was almost half-past two. "Fletcher will be back for us soon and we'll teleport over. At 3:05 Skulduggery will pull his part of the plan so we'd better be fast. There's no time to explain it all now mum, but I promise I'll tell you later."

"Alright, but we have to get Vivi too," Melissa instructed her daughter and Valkyrie frowned.

"Did you let Alice get a dog? How come you never let me get a dog?" Valkyrie complained.

"Oh for goodness sake Stephanie. She's not a dog, she's a girl. We found her back in Ireland living on the streets. She and Alice became best friends and we adopted her." Melissa said and started to tidy up a few books and papers from the coffee table. Valkyrie's face took on a grave expression and she whirled around to Dexter and Saracen.

"No, you don't think..." Dexter trailed off.


	10. New Orders

"No, you don't think..." Dexter trailed off.

"I'm almost ninety-nine percent sure of it. Call Skulduggery." Valkyrie ordered them and walked off into the living room walking so fast her hips swayed. Dexter watched her go before Saracen elbowed him in the ribs. Vex hurriedly took out his phone and fumbled with the password before speed dialling Skulduggery and putting him on speaker so Saracen could also hear.

"Dexter. Why are you calling? Is something wrong? Where's Valkyrie?" Skulduggery's voice asked from the other side of the phone.

"Everything's fine here. Well, not really. Val's mum just told us about a girl on the streets in Ireland who got close to Alice and is now living with them. Val seems to think she's one of the girls you're looking for." Dexter brought him up-to-date.

"Ask how long they've had her for." Skulduggery said after a long pause. Dexter looked to Saracen and he nodded, smoothly going over to Melissa and they spoke for a bit. Saracen came back over.

"Eleven years." He told Skulduggery and the two men heard him curse.

"The timeline fits perfectly. Around 11 years ago when Alice was 8 and the exact time the two girls started being seen. Following everywhere Alice was going." Skulduggery realised. "Valkyrie was right. We underestimated them. Don't you dare tell her I said that she was right. The last thing we need is for it to go to her head so she can inflate her ego. I've got to go, Fletcher will be over in a few minutes. Watch the front and back of the house. If someone's been spying then they'll know you're there and, to be honest, three of the remaining four Dead Men are a little bit famous. Dexter, take care of Valkyrie!"

"I will." Dexter nodded even though he couldn't be seen through the phone.

"What about me?" Saracen asked. _**Why should I not be given a special person to protect**_ , Saracen thought, _**maybe Melissa!**_

"You're absolutely right Saracen. Dexter, tell Valkyrie she's in charge of looking after Saracen." Skulduggery said before he hung up, leaving Saracen in a grouchy I-need-to-prove-myself mood. He quickly moved down the back of the house and Dexter knew he was going to watch the back door. So instead Dexter went the opposite way and arrived in the front bedroom. Valkyrie was bent over by the purple velvet curtains, peering out of the window.


	11. Small Talk

"Skulduggery said to-" Dexter began but Valkyrie cut him off.

"Watch all the entrances of the house because it's a good chance we're being watched because any accomplices of Vivi's would know exactly where my family live?" she finished for him.

"Yeah. He also said not to tell you that you were right because he doesn't want to have another giant ego to challenge his. Only to fail, of course." Vex let out a loud breath of air and walked around the room, picking up a few bits and pieces as he went. It was a girl's room, but not a girly girl. It was Pairs themed with a black, purple, grey, and white colour scheme. There were mirrors and jewellery holders filled with sparkling gems and metals, polaroid pictures pegged up on strings. The whole place looked very mature and stylish.

Dexter eyed a photograph of two gorgeous teenage girls. One had smooth bronze coloured skin with dark brown cascading hair, golden brown eyes with green flecks, perfect eyebrows, and two dimples on either side of her cheeks when she smiled. Her facial structure looked a lot like Valkyrie, so Dexter assumed this was Alice. The other girl had lovely chocolate coloured skin and striking eyes of a brown so dark it almost looked black. The extremely long, straight hair that went all the way down to her hips in a black waterfall. This was probably Vivi. "So how old is your sister?" he asked.

"Not old enough for you," Valkyrie replied in a sharp voice with a side of sass and a complementary glare.

"Val, that's not what I meant." Dexter laughed at her reaction.

"It'd better not have been." She snapped but then softened, still looking out the window. "She's seventeen now."

"She looks like you," Dexter told her, putting back the photo.

"The last time I saw her she wasn't even two," Valkyrie said sadly, tears came to her eyes and she began shaking. "And the last time I held her was when I killed her." 


	12. Breaking Down

Dexter kneeled down next to her and she sank to the floor crying and trembling. He pulled her into his lap and rubbed her back as she cried. "Val, it's okay. She's alive and there's nothing wrong with her at all. You had to do what you did to literally save the world, there's nothing wrong with that."

"No, it's...it's not okay! I killed her! I killed my sister! She was dead!" Valkyrie wailed.

Dexter didn't know what to do. He had no idea that she was this damaged and hurt. She looked so solid and composed and happy. He wanted her to know that he was there for her but he didn't know how to. Then he stopped thinking about Valkyrie as a work partner and friend and started thinking about her as a best friend and boyfriend would. It was like there was a whole different person as he shifted into what she needed at the moment.

"I've done so many things...I don't deserve a family! Steph...ph...Stephanie des...deserved a family. I d...don't deserve friends...or love...I was a horrible girl...girlfriend to Fletcher! And I killed Caelen! I was Dar...Darquesse! Everyone hates me!" Valkyrie said between crying and stabbing gasps for breath.

"Valkyrie, I don't hate you. No one does. I want you to listen to me very carefully, Val. You're not a bad person. You're a very good person, who bad things have happened to. Besides, the world isn't split into good people and the evil people we arrest. We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are." Dexter told her in a soft, soothing voice.

"That's a modified version of Sirius's speech to Harry in the Order of the Phoenix." she sniffed and tried to stop the crying. Soon the crying has ceased and she was just gasping and choking for breath, her chest heaving and wet tear tracks down her face.

"Well, aren't you quite the geeky girl for knowing that," he said to her, trying to calm her down by leading away from the subject.

"I only know that because Stephanie watched it a hundred times with Alice because it was one of the only things that stopped her from crying." Valkyrie wailed and started balling again. _**G** reat job Dexter_, he scolded himself, _now she's going to be worse!_

Dexter opened his mouth, about to console her again when he realized that this was not an average breakdown. He could tell by the way she was trembling and sweating and how she looked like she felt she was helplessly drowning. This was a panic attack.


	13. The Panic Attack

His brain kicked into overdrive and tried to remember how to stop a panic attack. The only thing that came to mind was a scene from a T.V show his ex-girlfriend liked called Teen Wolf. Lydia had kissed Stiles when he was having a panic attack because he needed to hold his breath! That was it! God bless the shows his ex-girlfriend forced him to watch. So now he knew that all he had to do was make her hold her breath. But how would he do that?

_Just kiss her man! You've wanted to do it for ages and this is the perfect opportunity. Just go for it!_

So Dexter decided on what he was going to do. He pulled Valkyrie up to face him. Her beautiful dark eyes were sparkling and glassy. She was completely unaware of what was going on around her and she was still mumbling things under her breath about Darquesse. There was no way he could stay there and watch her in pain like she was. He had to do something, even if it meant kissing her without her consent. So he took a deep breath and...


	14. Saracen Saves the Day...Or Not

"Saracen!" he called out into the house as loud as he could. "I need you right now!"

There was no reply. Saracen hadn't heard him. Saracen had kissed so many women but when it finally counted he wasn't there. Dexter pondered on his options for a moment but he knew there was no other choice. He prepared himself for the moment he had dreamed of for the past 15 years. He thought he glimpsed movement through the window from his peripheral vision but when he looked up there was nothing there. So he gulped and leaned down.


	15. Feeling EXtremely Crushed

Dexter gulped and leaned down when...

_**POP!** _

So that was what he saw from the window. Fletcher Renn appeared next to him with a concerned expression on his face. "What is happening in here!" he yelled, immediately falling to his ex-girlfriend's side.

"She's having a panic attack! She needs to hold her breath." Dexter explained and without a second thought, Fletcher grabbed Valkyrie's cheeks and wiped away her tears as he kissed her.

Dexter's heart squeezed so tight he thought it might explode but he suffered quietly, trying to keep a straight face as he watched the girl he had feelings for being kissed by her ex-boyfriend who had remained one of her close friends during the time they had been broken up for. Oh, and that kiss? It was long. And the more he thought about it the longer it became. _And seriously. What was up with Fletcher's hair? Pft. Stupid hair. Please, somebody, blind me **,**_ Dexter thought to himself and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Then he inwardly scolded himself for being so selfish when Valkyrie was so... traumatised and haunted. Once the everlasting kiss finally ended they broke apart and Valkyrie's breathing was back to normal.

"Thanks, Fletch," Valkyrie sniffed and stood up. Her legs buckled beneath her and Dexter held her arm to steady her as he rose from the floor. She leaned into him for a few minutes until she could stand properly.

"Are you okay?" Fletcher asked her, his face void of any smile, humour or arrogance that was usually tattooed to his features.

"I'm fine now, thanks to both of you." Valkyrie smiled at Fletcher but then her gaze got stuck to Dexter like a panicking Ronald Weasly in a cluster of devil snare. She found that it was appealing using Harry Potter references now that she knew Dexter like it and knew it so well.

"Are you sure you're okay? Because from what I just saw and heard it's harder to believe you than a politician pleading honesty." Dexter watched her steadily.

"I'm as perfect as Skulduggery thinks he is," she promised with a cheeky glint in her wet eyes.

"Well then, in that case, I would have thought in all the years we've known each other you'd have told me that you were invincible and more flawless than China Sorrows herself." Dexter jumped on the opportunity to joke. "Actually, I lied. I already know one of those things is true. But everyone knows that no one is invincible."

Dexter cursed himself as soon as the words came rolling out of his mouth dipped with charm. And in front of her ex too! What's more, is she just kissed him!

"Did you just insinuate that I'm prettier than China Sorrows?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow in a voice so quiet and an expression so flirtatious it made his butterflies tickle the sides of his stomach.

"Quite possibly." he shrugged as if he didn't feel like flying to the moon and back.

"Well, you just made my day," she replied with the most radiant smile and Fletcher cleared his throat, glancing between the two cautiously.

"We have to hurry. We're due in ten minutes and if we're late everything is going to go terribly." Fletcher told them and the two nodded and stepped apart from each other, flicking professional mode on.

"I'll just go and get Saracen and mum." Valkyrie was strictly business now, but as she was exiting the room something caught her eye. It was the picture Dexter had been looking at beforehand. She gasped and her eyes widened.

"Val, what is it?" Vex asked her.

"It's the girl from my dream! The one I told you about last night. The girl from my dream is Alice!"


	16. The Girl in the Dream

"Val, what is it?" Vex asked her.

"It's the girl from my dream! The one I told you about last night. The girl from my dream is Alice!" she explained her horrified expression and Dexter's face now wore one to match it. He half expected dramatic music to play from a hidden speaker.

"So that means that...?" Fletcher frowned in question.

"That means that she was attacked by someone last night." Valkyrie finished for him. His mouth opened in a perfect 'O' as he processed the information he had been given. Then he ran out of the room to get Saracen who they'd guessed was outside the back of the house. Dexter and Valkyrie roamed the whole building for Melissa and found her in the kitchen washing dishes.

"Mum we have to go. Now. Last night did you notice anything... I don't know, a little unusual with Alice?" Valkyrie tried to act casual as to not alarm her other any more than she needed to be.

"No, of course not. She was as quiet as a mouse. Just like every other night for the past six months. Her and Vivi used to stay up talking until midnight but recently they've been very quiet and withdrawn from us. I suppose it was always going to happen though. She was bound to start liking boys sooner or later." Melissa sighed.

"Okay, did you see her this morning?"

"Yes. but she was in a hurry. Her and Vivi didn't even eat breakfast." Melissa said, looking up from the towel she was drying her hands on and looking at the group suspiciously. "You're grilling me. What's happened? The real reason why you're here has something to do with Alice and Vivi doesn't it?"

"Mum, I promise that everything will be clear to you when we get back to the Sanctuary," Valkyrie said soothingly. Melissa looked convinced. At least for now anyway.

"We're ready to go." Fletcher appeared in the doorway with Saracen. The group moved into position and linked arms. In the blink of an eye, they were standing in the back teachers' car park of Alice's school on the ground floor. Melissa wobbled a bit but was otherwise unscathed.

"I'm going to pick Val's dad up from the house and take him to the sanctuary, then I'm going to Skulduggery and the others. I'll be here to pick you up in twenty minutes. Good luck." Fletcher said to them and then he was gone.

"Well, at least I didn't vomit this time." Valkyrie's mum stated, still looking like she'd drank one cup too many of bad wine.

"Okay, so let's plan this thing. Mum, you Dexter and Saracen will go up to the office on level three and check out Alice. I will watch the back areas of the school to check for anyone looking for us. When you have here meet me back here and we'll wait for Fletcher. Questions?" Valkyrie demanded. Vex grinned at her, he had to admit she looked pretty hot when she was determined. "None? Okay. Make sure you look after my mum. I don't want anything bad to happen to her or Alice."

"Don't worry, she's safe with me." Saracen nodded, proud that he had been given an important job.

"I was talking to Dexter," she told him and he scowled.

"What about me?"

"Yeah, I almost forgot. Saracen, when you find Alice..." Valkyrie pointed to him and the scowl evaporating and was replaced with a hopeful smile as he awaited the important job he as about to be given. "...Make sure you don't forget to tell her to protect you. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Seriously!?" he hissed and threw his hands up into the air. Dexter laughed at his friend.

"But Steph, I have no proper reason to pull her out. What do I say?" Melissa's eyes widened and she licked her lips in anticipation of an adventure. The last time she had done something like this she was 15 years younger.

"That's the reason why I want the boys to go with you. Saracen is charming and seductive and Dexter is hot and intimidating. If the office has women working on staff then we should be fine." Valkyrie assured her mother.

"And if it's a bloke?" Saracen asked.

"Let's hope that he's swinging for the other team. Just tell them you have to leave for an emergency flight to visit a relative who is dying," she suggested.

"Who died?" her mother frowned.

"I don't know! Say it was Beryl or something. It's not like anyone would know if one of them died." Valkyrie shrugged and her boots crunched against the rocky cement. She made her way casually to the gates and whistled the tune to Harry Potter. Something she had blocked out resurfaced in her memory. She remembered walking through the stacks of China's library, whistling the exact same tune. She remembered Ryan. Of course, nowadays China didn't have that library. And Ryan wasn't even Ryan. He was Deacon Maybury. And Deacon was turned into a rubber bath duck by Darquesse. She sighed. She missed the old days. Soon her whistling was interrupted by another whistle. She listened closely and the soft noise became louder. She stopped her patrol and moved her head toward the sound and her gaze found a high, wide dumpster. She recognized the sound to be metal scraping against metal, screeching similar to the sound of angry remnants.

_**Screech!** _

Boy, she really wished she hadn't listened to the noise and had run instead.


	17. Finding Room 107

Dexter trailed a little behind Melissa and Saracen. He couldn't risk them seeing him smile on a serious mission. Especially not because Valkyrie Cain had called him hot. And there it was again. That giddy, school-girl feeling that somehow made him feel the contradicting mix of manly but gentle and caring. He felt the smile creep onto his face again and spread out like an infectious gas leak. Because that was what it was. Infectious. He couldn't stop.

In fact, he couldn't focus much at all and only caught a general idea of the events that were taking place around him. What had this girl done to him?

"Thank you so much, ma'am, you've been a real comforting help in such a hard time for our family." Dexter heard Saracen say to the blushing receptionist.

"Oh, please, call me Bertha. It's no problem at all. It's the least I could do for you. My deepest regards for your family." the lady gave them a pitiful smile.

The trio thanked her and moved quickly down the three sets of stairs they had just come up from and wandered through the halls, avoiding anyone who might try to stop them. Soon enough they got to the section that held all the science rooms. Their eyes scanned the silver plaques on the doors to the classrooms like robots. They searched for the room number that Bertha the office lady had told them Alice was in for almost 10 whole minutes. By this time, they felt completely lost and Vex was agitated.

"Well, Bertha said that Valkyrie's sister was in 107," Saracen repeated what the woman had told them.

"Yeah, and she also said that, and I quote, 'Saracen is right, it would be unfair to call her over the intercom so the whole school knows and asks her what's wrong. It would be traumatizing.' I repeat, she said 'Saracen is right'. She's obviously a little brain damaged. So I think it's safe to assume she may have mixed it up because there is no room 107!" Dexter whisper shouted angrily at his friend.

"I found room 107," Melissa said quietly to them from the next corridor over.


	18. It All Came Crumbling Down

Saracen shot a pointed look at Dexter who rolled his eyes and the pair followed her directions. They found the classroom in the middle of the stacks of lockers. What a silly place to have a science room, it's so far away from the other ones, Dexter thought to himself. He peered through the narrow vertical glass panel in the door. Vex skimmed the room for Alice but he couldn't see her.

"Are you sure this is the right classroom?" he quizzed Saracen.

"There," Melissa said, pointing toward the back of the classroom. "There's Alice and Vivi, sitting at the back right."

"Okay, let's go get them then," Saracen said and Melissa unlocked the door, instantly painting a mournful appearance. She began talking with the teacher somberly. Dexter was about to follow her in when Saracen pulled him back by the shirt.

"Something has gone wrong. I know it." Saracen said in a low voice, he was stiff and his eyes flickered to the far wall of the classroom with windows facing the road leading into the teachers parking lot they had teleported to. Just as Dexter was turning his head toward the windows the glass shattered into a million pieces and a huge gust of wind that came glowing through brought all the glass crumbling down. Skulduggery Pleasant was thrown through the empty window sills, landing roughly on the back desk where Alice and Vivi were sitting. Melissa crouched behind the teacher's desk and all the students and the teacher pushed Saracen and Dexter away from the door in their hurry to escape. Vex searched the sea of youthful faces for the two girls they had come for, but to his surprise when all the people cleared he found them sitting calmly at their desk like nothing out of the ordinary happened. Both had their heads down and were drawing in different books.

"Saracen, we have to get Vivi now, she and her other friend from the vision have organized a strike against us. Somehow they knew we were coming." Dexter shouted to his friend. A pair of shiny new shackles clinked together as Saracen pulled them from his pocket. The pair were struggling through the torrent of wind and flying papers when it stopped. Everything was still. The papers floated through the air in slow motion, staying roughly in the same position they were when the wind stopped. Then everything drifted to the floor lazily and when all the objects had gone and their view was clear, standing at her desk with her arms swept wide open and a look of deep concentration on her familiar face, was Alice Edgley. Alice had magic.


	19. Alice and Vivi

Alice sat down calmly, closed her black covered book, placed it in her backpack and began packing up her pencil case. When she was finished she turned to Skulduggery who had struck a model pose and was lying amid the glass on their table awkwardly.

"You're late." She said and played with a ring on her finger. Her voice was melodious and feminine, in that she was different from Valkyrie, who's voice was sarcastic and edgy.

"You were expecting us?" Skulduggery answered, clearly not surprised. As such, his question sounded more like a statement.

"Why did you think the others came to protect us? What do you want from us? We're not freaks, only they understand that. Why can't mortals accept that? Just because we have gifts and talents we are feared. That fear turns to hatred, and hatred to unacceptance and hostility. We are forced to keep our gifts to ourselves, to become isolated and untrusting. Tell me, why is a person whose talent is art, or music, or sports accepted into society? They are talents and gifts as well. We do good things, we save people who cannot save themselves. Instead, these other people are famous and are idolized. Are we? No. I can't even tell my own parents what I am without being able to trust that they won't call the government to experiment on me." Alice said loudly and strongly. "But you. You are a skeleton. You are like us. Why are you turning against your fellow mutants?"

"A mutant? What?" Skulduggery actually sounded baffled. The great Skeleton detective, baffled. Imagine that.

"Yes, you are like us. There is magic in your aura. I can see it." Alice nodded. Skulduggery glanced at Vivi. The girl was quietly scribbling in a colouring book with a pink crayon. She didn't exactly look like an earth-shattering villain.

"You're not mutants. Why do you think you're mutants? You're sorcerers. You're..." Skulduggery hesitated and his bone structure looked like it was frowning. "...evil sorcerers?"

"OH! He's a skelly-ton! He's bold." Vivi giggled in a childlike voice. "Is he like us? Oh well, I mean he can't be exactly like us because we're special."

Then she leaned forward like she was confiding a secret in Skulduggery but when she spoke her voice was a loud raspy attempt at a whisper. "The hot one told us. But ssh... it's a secret."

"Okay..." Saracen slowly nodded and smiled, clearly freaked out by the teenager who was acting like a creepy jitter-girl-like child. Dexter thought that Vivi was a lot like Clarabelle, but creepier.

"Can you move over please, Mr C? You're sitting on my purple highlighter. And it's my favourite colour." She asked nicely with a wide innocent smile.

"Mr C?" Skulduggery asked, amusement in his voice. He shuffled his leg back a few inches and she harrumphed good-naturedly, plucking the highlighter and taking off the cap.

"Yes, Mr C. Because you're a skeleton, and skeletons are bones and bones are made from Calcium." She nodded her head like a meerkat.

"Oh, okay." Skulduggery replied.

"Skulduggery, we need to get out of here as soon as possible," Saracen told his friend. The detective swivelled his head around and slid off the table. He apparently had no clue they had been standing there the whole time.

"What are you two doing here? You, Melissa and Valkyrie are meant to be finding Alice!" he yelled at them. Melissa popped up from behind the desk and Alice froze.

"Mum!?" she questioned and ran forward, stopping just short of her mother. She looked as if she wanted to hug her mother but was...scared to.

"Mum?" Skulduggery inquired. "This is Valkyrie's sister? She knows about magic? Valkyrie's going to kill me."

Saracen tossed Skulduggery the handcuffs he was holding. The skeleton caught them and clicked them onto Vivi's wrists. She dropped her purple highlighter and looked up with a puppy dog face.

"Alice, I think I'm going to jail again." She whimpered and Melissa's eyes widened.

"Again! What do you mean again young lady?" she reprimanded her adopted daughter, immediately shifting into a motherly mode.

"What are you doing to her!? Let her go!" Alice ordered and held her hands up, focus etching into her face. Saracen quickly snapped another pair of cuffs on her wrists. She felt her magic dampen and scowled.

"They'll get you for this. You... look like Logan." She tilted her head to the side curiously. At everyone's mystified expressions she rolled her eyes. "The Wolverine. Hugh Jackman?" Then everyone nodded, partially in agreement and partially in understanding.

"Look, we'll discuss everything later. Let's get out of here." Dexter urged them as he heard the sirens howling. They hurried through the hallways filled with curious students, hiding the shackles on Alice and Vivi's hands from sight. Dexter led the way out the back door and the group filed out into the teachers' parking lot.

"Dexter, where's Valkyrie?" Skulduggery questioned warily, his voice hard-edged.

"She was just..." Dexter trailed off when he looked around and found the bloody body of a dark-haired girl lying unmoving on the cement near the dumpster. 


	20. Valkyrie's Injuries

He instantly forgot everything else and shot to her side faster than a bullet. There were three long evenly spaced cuts slashing from her right ear to her t-shirt which was armoured. Skulduggery, Melissa and Saracen all kneeled by her, Alice and Vivi stood by, keeping their distance, looking guilty and worried.

"Valkyrie! Val, listen to my voice. You need to stay awake. Keep your eyes open." Dexter begged her.

"I know how to wake her up! Slap her with a wet fish! It always works!" Vivi offered with a smile in her voice. The group ignored her.

"We need to get her to the sanctuary now, she's losing consciousness and her pulse is getting slower.

"Her puke is getting slower! It's that bad!? You really need to slap her with an extra wet fish!" Vivi gasped in actual fear. Again she was ignored.

"Skulduggery, it's a trap. I don't know why, but it was Saracen." she managed to choke out. Her words were accompanied by blood as she coughed. Skulduggery and Melissa looked at Saracen. 


	21. Who Can You Trust?

Saracen himself looked bewildered.

"It couldn't have been Saracen. He was with us the whole time. He'd never do that." Dexter defended his friend who smiled gratefully at him.

"That was what everyone thought about Ravel. And I can tell you now, anyone who hurts Valkyrie will get what's coming to them" Skulduggery spoke quietly and dangerously.

"If you can't trust your friends who can you trust?" Alice spoke up wisely from behind them. "It wasn't your friend who did this to the girl. It was us."


	22. Lookalikes

"What! Alice, how could you?" Melissa scolded her youngest daughter and pushed back Valkyrie's dark hair from her pale face. Alice's face slackened, dismayed at how disappointed her mother was with her.

"Mum, you're with them?" her voice broke along with her heart. All she'd wanted was to protect her mother and make her proud. "How could you turn against me? I'm your daughter."

"No daughter of mine does this to innocent, good people." Melissa shook her head and tears fell.

Alice took a step back, feeling betrayed. Vivi was now singing a song about wet fish.

"Now I'm a fresh fish, here on dry land, I'm a fish outta water, not a tuna in a can. I'm here for a reason, but only for a season. So, all you bad fishies..." she sang, completely off pitch.

"Saracen, you go get Fletcher, we need to get Valkyrie to the medical wing." Skulduggery commanded.

"Where is Fletcher?" Saracen looked around for the boy.

"He's helping Tanith and Ellion fight the other sorcerer."

"You mean the one that threw you through the window?" Dexter asked, eyebrows raised.

"I wasn't thrown into the window. I chose to enter through the window because doors are for people with no imagination." Skulduggery argued.

"Right, so what can this sorcerer do that's so dangerous that three of the world's best operatives can barely hold them off." Saracen wondered out loud.

"They are not sorcerers! They're mutants! Professor Xavier found us. You can't take us to be tested on by the government. Storm and Logan won't let you." Alice screamed at them.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about? Your sister is dying and you're talking nonsense." Dexter roared at Alice and she narrowed her eyes at him, all grace and composure evaporating.

"Listen here. I don't have a sister other than Vivi. You are the ones coming in and arresting us when we've done nothing wrong. We were warned about you. All of you, Dexter Vex. You too, Saracen Rue, Skulduggery Pleasant, Valkyrie Cain, Tanith Low, Gracious O'Callahan, Donegan Bane, and China Sorrows. You're world breakers. I've seen the evidence. That girl there murdered her own sister. I would never hurt Vivi. So buck off, buddy." she spat, her words laced with venom. At the sound of her anger, there was a scraping sound of metal against metal and someone came sprinting for them from behind the dumpster. He jumped onto the lid and Dexter recognized the man as Saracen Rue. What? But Saracen was right next to him. There were two Saracens.


	23. The Two Saracens

The new Saracen glared at them from where he stood on the dumpster. It was only when the new Saracen grew three silver knives from in-between his knuckles on each hand that Dexter realized who this really was. It was Logan, more commonly known as The Wolverine.

"But the Wolverine is just a movie character," Saracen said as if reading Dexter's mind.

"You can tell him that when he impales you with his adamantium steel bones." Alice glowered at them.

"Allison, tell him to stop," Melissa ordered, and just like that Alice obeyed and held her hand up to stop her friend. "These people are not taking you to be experimented on. They're going to teach you to use your powers just like they did with your sister Stephanie."

"Logan, wait." Alice put her hand back down and the Saracen look-alike halted and straightened up. "You told me that Stephanie was my imaginary friend."

"I lied. She's your sister but when you were two she had to move to America because of her job as a detective." Melissa admitted and sighed in defeat.

Alice looked shocked and her golden brown and emerald green eyes moved to Valkyrie lying on the floor. She pushed in-between Skulduggery and Dexter and her hands hovered over her sister's wounds. Alice screwed her eyes shut in concentration and her hands shook. At first, everyone thought she looked ridiculous and what she was doing was ineffective. Then she growled in frustration.

"Take them off," she yelled at Dexter. "Take them off now! The shackles! She's dying and I know how to save her. It's my fault and I need to fix my mistakes. Take them off! Do you want to see her alive again? Then do what I say."

Dexter fumbled with the key to the shackles and unlocked them. The look of relief and relaxation on Alice's face when she felt her magic flood her body was unsettling. Then panic left her eyes and confidence replaced it. She repeated what she was doing before and this time the group gawked in awe as the tears in the skin began stitching itself together and the arteries, veins, capillaries, and flesh mended together. Valkyrie was left with nothing but blood residue to suggest there had been an injury. Alice went pail and looked frail and weak. She put her arms out to steady herself and looked like she was dizzy.

"She used too much magic, she needs to rest." Dexter held her arm to help her sit back on her knees while she gasped for breath. Vex slapped her cuffs back on and the girl paled even more.

"Why did she listen all of a sudden?" Saracen frowned.

"She's tapped into the use of her magic and her given name was used against her unknowingly when her mother told her what to do." Skulduggery revealed quietly so Alice wouldn't hear them.

"Who the hell are you people and what is going on here?" Logan asked gruffly.

We can sit down and explain everything later. For now, you need to call off your friend." Saracen told him and the two looked at each other, up and down.

"I don't look like you." they both said at the same time. Everyone else mumbled in disagreement and the two men sighed in annoyance.

"He's too fat to look like me." Logan raised an eyebrow and took out a cigar.

"I'm not fat. I love my abbs so much that I decided to protect them with a layer of cushioning. That's all." Saracen said defensively.

"Where the hell's my lighter." Logan cursed and ruffled through his pockets for a lighter.

"SLAP IT WITH A WET FISH!" Vivi shrieked from somewhere behind them. Logan must have been used to the weirdness because he didn't even glance in her direction.

"Here, let me help you with that." Skulduggery said a smirk in his voice, happy to show off his skills. He clicked his fingers and generated a flame to light Logan's cigarette.

"Thanks, bub. I once knew a kid who could set his whole arm on fire." Logan told him plainly.

"Well, good for you." Skulduggery chirped and fixed his suit.


	24. Tearing Up The Street

"Tanith, behind you!" Ellion yelled to his aunt as a lightning bolt began on its way down to the car Tanith was leaning against. She dove out of the way just in time and Ellion covered his head with a scorched car door like a shield. The car erupted into flames and the petrol caught fire sending bits and pieces of the black Sedan flying through the sky.

"I have an idea!" he shouted to his aunt.

"How are we meant to do anything if she's flying and we can't reach her?!" Tanith yelled back.

"You saw _The Avengers_ , the first one with Black Widow and Captain America, right?"

"Of course!"

"Do you remember how Black Widow got a boost to the space ship thing?" Ellion asked her. She grinned at him when she understood what he was planning.

"Great plan. Tell Fletcher to get ready. When she drops to the ground he'll teleport her to the Sanctuary where the magic is bound and leave her there." Tanith nodded and Ellion turned back to see Fletcher holding a large mace and cowering behind half a car. The entire street was in flames and the pavement was scorched and the roads were cracked.

"Fletcher!" Ellion called out the older boy's name and used his hands to motion what the plan was. Fletcher nodded and disappeared with the mace, coming back with magic bounding handcuffs. Even Ellion had to admit it was a good idea.

"Tanith, ready?!" he prepared himself for a running start and sheathed his sword. His aunt nodded and dodged another strike of lightning. When she came out of her roll she ended her knees and interlocked her fingers, getting ready to throw him into the air.

"Ready? Now!" she ordered and Ellion sprinted at her, leaping onto her hands and pushing off. The muscles in her arms screamed at her but it was worth it.

He felt the air rush and he manipulated the atmosphere around him to make it appear like he wasn't there at all. The pretty woman with the white hair and glowing eyes didn't see him coming when he took out his sword and as he was beginning his descent, he sent the hilt crashing down on her head. Her eyes cleared and she fell. Fletcher appeared next to here and clicked the cuffs onto her wrists, she groaned in pain. Tanith helped up her nephew who had landed in a pile on the floor.

"Good job." she complimented him. He nodded in thanks but didn't reply.

"I'll go get the others. I wonder what happened to Skulduggery after he got thrown through that window." Ellion frowned.


	25. Blacking Out

  
"Skulduggery! We've got her in shackles. It's time to go." Ellion shouted as he jogged up to them in the parking lot. He saw the blood on Valkyrie's chest and froze.

"Where's Tanith?" Skulduggery asked.

"She's by the van that Fletcher teleported us behind. The sorcerer, she exactly like Storm, you know, Halle Berry from the X-men movies. It's weird." Ellion shook his head but his eyes bulged when he saw The Wolverine. "Nope, apparently it's perfectly normal for movie characters to be real. And holy...who's this?" he stuttered, looking to Vivi who was trying to dig through cement, pummeling the ground with her school bag now.

"She's trying to dig through to an underground puddle so she can find a wet fish and slap the unconscious chick to wake her up. I'm a mutant. So is my friend Storm. I'm guessing you and your buddies arrested her. This girl here is Alice, the crazy one is Vivi and we aren't going anywhere with people like you. Do you have a problem here, bub?" Logan stared Ellion down.

"Actually, I find that there is a problem with that." Skulduggery spoke up. "You see, we came all this way and put in all this effort to capture you and your friends here. The girl lying on the floor is like a daughter to me and she sacrificed herself for this mission. And I don't know if she'd like to let you all go."

"Well, what a shame it is that she's unconscious...or dead. You never know sometimes. She looks pretty dead." Logan shrugged carelessly and Dexter seethed. "But we have no way of knowing what she would have wanted before her death, so I'll be taking my friends and we'll be going now. We have some work to do, our lives to live ...yada yada yada..."

"I would appreciate it if you didn't refer to this girl as dead or soon you'll know what it feels like to **_be_** dead. And you're right, we can't be sure what she wants to happen to the prisoners, so I think we'll take you all anyway and when she wakes up we can decide what to do with you. How about that, 'bub'?" Dexter growled at Logan, emphasizing his own words against him.

"That actually doesn't sit too well with me so I think I'll pass. Thanks for the offer." Logan smiled forcefully.

"Well, of course, your decision would mean a problem for us. I'm afraid we can't let you go." Skulduggery apologized.

"Watch me," he grunted, but when he turned to leave he couldn't get up. He couldn't move his body from his neck down.

"Watching you struggling there with your face as red as Rudolf's nose would be amusing, I must admit. But I am a professional and such behaviour is below a Sanctuary official." Skulduggery replied smugly and pulled out another pair of handcuffs from his jacket pocket. He clicked them on to Wolverine and Saracen wiped away the immobilizing sigils he drew in chalk on the concrete. China Sorrows had figured that if Saracen couldn't physically use magic in a fight, she would teach him a few basic symbols so he'd be 'useful' as she liked to put it.

"Now, where were we? Ah yes, we were about to go." Skulduggery nodded and stood up, pulling Logan to his feet.

Dexter picked up Valkyrie bridal style while Saracen stayed close to Melissa. Alice attempted to stand by herself but her knees shook and she almost collapsed to the floor again. Ellion looked down at her closely. She was shaking and pail and refused to turn her face towards him or make eye contact with anyone. Because of this, he couldn't see her face properly. But he did see a whole lot of her hair she was hiding behind. Her beautiful dark chocolate curls cascaded down to her waist. Ellion didn't know why everyone was fussing over her and Vivi. Neither of them seemed evil or particularly strong. In fact, physically, they didn't look like they knew how to fight at all. They weren't hard-muscled like Valkyrie or Tanith. Ellion bent down to slip his arm around Alice's waist and pulled her up to help her walk. She was almost a head shorter than him and very curvy with long toned legs.

"I can walk perfectly fine on my own thank you very much." she snapped at him and he grinned at her fiery attitude, so he let her go.

"Very well then," he replied with a small hand gesture for her to continue on her own. She strained to walk but after a few steps she began to drop again and Ellion caught her. "I think it's best if you let me help you."

"Why should I? You just want to put me and my friends in jail for no reason," she mumbled but didn't move away this time. Alice looked back at Vivi who was stomping on her school bag, trying to crack through the concrete. "Or better yet, experiment on us."

"Vivi, let's go!" she called back to her friend, Vivi hurried along to her side.

"Where are we going?" she asked happily, looking relieved to be able to leave her crumpled school bag in the middle of the parking lot on the floor.

"We're teleporting you to the Sanctuary where you will be interrogated, judged, and depending on your sentence, you may also be trained, educated in our world, and appointed to a duty," Ellion explained to Alice and Vivi. The scrawny, short girl kept a blank face.

"We're going to a special place to get ice-cream." Alice corrected the boy's mistake and whispered to him. "Just tell her something about ice-cream and she'll do whatever you say."

"Well, I didn't pin you as the bribing type, but okay. So you're Valkyrie's sister, huh?" he asked her, leading the way to the spot where Fletcher was due to pick them up in around 5 minutes.

"My sister is apparently Stephanie Edgley and I didn't know she existed until a few minutes ago. When I was growing up I was told that she was my imaginary friend." Alice rolled her eyes and Ellion felt pity for her.

"That's pretty harsh. Valkyrie Cain is Stephanie Edgley's taken name. Everyone has three names. Your given name, the name your parents give you when you are born. Your taken name, the name you choose for yourself, and your true name. Almost all sorcerers never know this. Your true name is the source of your magic and if you know what it is you have the potential to become the greatest sorcerer this world has seen. Only a few have ever found out their true name, most of them died." Ellion explained. "Valkyrie was one of the only two people ever known to have discovered their true name and taken control of it before someone else could control them with it. The other was Argeddion but he went fruit loops, ranting on about making the world a better place by giving all mortals magic even if it made them homicidal."

"That's ridiculous. So what about Steph...I mean Valkyrie? What happened to her?" Alice asked, finally staying interested in a subject long enough to stop scowling and being nasty.

"Her true name was too strong and took on a life of its own. It was Darquesse, and she grew to be incredibly powerful. And kinda...bad." Ellion said cautiously, not wanting to give Alice the impression that her older sister was evil.

"I get it. Poor Valkyrie...But wait a minute." Alice slowed down her pace as she thought and a look of realization crossed her face. "I know that Valkyrie killed her younger sister to gain possession of the Sceptre of the Ancients to kill Darquesse...but then that means that she killed me? But I'm not dead. At least I don't think I am."

"It's because she brought you back to life using a starburst," Ellion answered, wary of where this conversation had gone to.

"How did I die?" Alice asked softly.

"Painless and in a split second. With the death-touch gauntlet. It kills instantaneously with no pain."

"Well, at least I know that it didn't hurt." She chewed on her plump bottom lip. They reached the main street where smoke was rising from the burning cars and pavement.

"Ooh! I smell barbecue! Can I have a steak! Rare, please. With lots of blood in it! BLOOD TASTES METAL-LIKE!" Vivi squealed but when a car exploded into flames from across the street she screamed like George of the jungle and ran around in circles flapping her arms like a headless chicken.

Fletcher spotted them and teleported over with Dexter, Skulduggery with Valkyrie's limp body, Saracen with Logan in cuffs and Tanith with storm also in shackles. Then the world spun and Fletcher took his hand from Ellion's shoulder. Vivi lurched and vomited all over the white marble Sanctuary floor and Ellion has to pull Alice out of the way. Alice gagged but was way too weak to properly vomit and she brought her hand to her pounding head as she fell.

"Can we get a doctor over here?" Skulduggery shouted and that was the last thing she heard and saw before blacking out.


	26. Sitting and Waiting

Dexter Vex sat. And Dexter Vex waited. He sat and waited and he waited and sat. As he was sitting and waiting better than anyone could sit and wait half a dozen more important things were going on around him. Skulduggery and Tanith were in a meeting with Grand Mage China and then they were going to talk to the two mutants that were being held captive in the jail cells. Fletcher was with the other two of the monster hunters calming down and informing Melissa and Desmond Edgley of what was happening (not going into full detail, of course). Doctor Synecdoche was treating Valkyrie and Alice who were both still out cold. Saracen was training Vivi in the acting part of the detective job and also in a manner of human observation techniques. Ellion was doing a similar thing to Vex. But instead of mastering the art of sitting and waiting, he was practising the glamorous activity of pacing-up-and-down-the-corridor-in-the-medical-wing and waiting. Vex didn't even know why the boy was there. Dexter himself was waiting to see Valkyrie because she meant the world to him. What was he there for?

... Day 2 ...

Again, Dexter Vex sat and waited and again, many important things were happening. Skulduggery, Tanith, and China had come to an understanding with the Mutants. Only after many hours of debating. Gracious O'Callahan had been getting along very well with Desmond whilst Donegan Bane and Melissa watched on as the duo laughed at nonsensical things. Fletcher began gathering information about the old magic history and how civilization worked back when the Faceless Ones were in charge of the mortals and the Ancients rebelled to get a better understanding of what they might be going up against. He also searched for as much knowledge as he could on the different types of sorcerers and their magic disciplines to try and find out what Alice and Vivi were. Vivi continued her training with the Dead Men, Tanith, Ellion, China and other fighting specialists. She struck up quite the queer friendship with Clarabelle. Saracen was still learning the symbols that would be useful on missions. Ellion worked hard to better his skills and rise to the level of the esteemed people he was working with. But when Ellion wasn't training or teaching Vivi, he was waiting with Dexter. A part of Dexter told him to ask why the boy was there but the rest of him was just focused on Valkyrie.

... Day 3 ...

It was the third day that Alice and Valkyrie had been out and things were beginning to slow down. The mutants and sorcerers had become good friends and reached peace. So Storm and Logan were out of jail (Dexter still didn't like him). Melissa and Desmond were settling back into their old home in Ireland and the monster hunters and Saracen were helping them out. Ellion was there more often. Dexter hadn't moved much in three days. He slept three on the chairs and only moved to use the bathroom across the hallway and back. When he was hungry, the doctors brought him food. When he was thirsty, water. He ran his fingers through his messy golden blonde hair and sighed. China had called another meeting that night to decide what their next move should be. Dexter didn't plan on going of course. He just sat and waited.

... Day 4 ...

Another day had passed and few advances were made. Saracen had come by and told him of what happened in the meeting. They had decided on asking Vivi about what she could do with her magic but no one could get a straight answer out of her, or understand the weird riddles she spoke in. They suspected she was just saying random things that made no sense to baffle them. So no one was any closer to finding out what type of magic she had. The only thing that was sure was that someone, an unknown source that Vivi liked to call 'the hot one', had told them that she and Alice were special.

"We already knew they were special, it's no big deal." Dexter had complained to Saracen when he had told him. "They were both fighting against us in the end-of-the-world visions."

"Yes, but that's not it. We're going to try getting sensitives to find out who he is tonight. He knows something about them that we don't. I just know it." Saracen had sighed in annoyance and left Dexter alone to his thoughts.

The only progress they had made was the estimated guess that the reason behind Alice's power was because she was descended to the ancients. That was it. The mutants were merging their knowledge of magic with the Sanctuary's and new science-magic theories were made. There was still no news of when the two sisters would wake up.

... Day 5 ...

Dexter was tired of waiting. Sleeping on the hard chairs had become unbearable; he was fresh from the shower but still felt lethargic and had wasted no time on shaving. So now his tired-looking face sported a razor stubble and it was itchy. He still waited though. And still sat. What he had for Valkyrie was stronger than the pain in his back, pounding in temples, an itch on his face, the sting in his bloodshot eyes, and stiffness in his neck. Ellion had just come from training, red-faced, and began pacing again.

Tanith passed by to tell him how things were going. Any mage that had tried to get into Vivi's head left screaming. Despite her sunny appearance, there was something dark and twisted inside her that sent all the psychics running. So there was no progress on the magic front. She told him all about their suspicions for who the mystery man could be. They'd narrowed it down to

a) Faceless One's fanatics

b) Ravel's supporters

c) Roarheaven mages

d) Anyone who doesn't like the Sanctuary

e) Anyone who doesn't like Skulduggery.

"So basically," he had told Tanith when she informed him of this, " no one has been ruled out yet."

To which his answer was a laugh and nod. Fletcher had discovered a book in Australia about a cave full of artefacts, weapons and stories preserved from the era when the Faceless Ones were ruling over the mortals and the Ancients. He turned it in to China so she could take a look at it and judge its sincerity. But there wasn't much anyone wanted to take action in until Dexter and Valkyrie were back in the game.

Vex grew bored again and played with a weird, unproportioned jar-like-thing that had been badly painted and was in danger of falling off the flat table next to the magazines. Vivi and Clarabelle had taken up pottery and now the entire medical wing of the Sanctuary was littered with strange works of...what one deranged person might call art. Dexter had heard that one of the wobbly constructions of clay had dropped off a bench and rolled down several hallways tripping a doctor. The poor man sprawled all over a cart full of red dye and was taken into questioning by Skulduggery for interrogation of a grisly murder never committed. It was known that bones could not blush but Dexter swore that Skulduggery was so embarrassed by his false accusation that even his bones turned pink. 

... Day 6 ...

Now things slowed to a stop and Dexter wasn't receiving much information. But that wasn't how he really knew that nothing was happening in the Sanctuary. He realized this when Skulduggery Pleasant sat down next to him, not speaking a word. If there was anything worthwhile at all going on then Skulduggery would be put on the job. It also meant that if Skulduggery was quiet he had nothing to say, and that was truly a rarity. As predicted, soon Fletcher, Tanith, Ellion, Donegan, Gracious, Saracen, Desmond, Melissa, Clarabelle, and Vivi were all there too. Each and every one of them waiting and sitting. Clarabelle and Vivi giggled and pulled silly faces in one corner, Desmond and Gracious were discussing the cool uniforms of Jedi's and Melissa was looking worried about her daughters.

But all that silence and peace was put to an end when China Sorrows herself came thundering down the corridor in her towering heels, the sharp clacks of her footsteps slicing through the silence like a god-killer sword.

"News?" Skulduggery was the first to stand.

"Big news. I inspected that book Mr Renn found and it is a word for word copy of a journal written thousands of years ago by a man studying the Scepter of the Ancients. He was searching for the Scepter when he stumbled across a treasure trove of secrets and knowledge."

"So the cave?" Tanith prompted. China tried to avoid looking at the blonde in leather. The two still didn't like each other.

"Real. There is a ninety-nine percent chance that everything written in that journal is real. Imagine what books are stashed away in that cave of wonders. It's like a large time capsule from the time when the world was under the rule of the Faceless Ones. If the legends are fully true then their master behind the scenes and also their father, the Unnamed would be mentioned. Maybe even a way to stop him. And all those things are going to belong to me." China raved, her pale blue eyes sparkling in excitement. Tanith rolled her eyes and Ellion stifled a laugh.

"So as soon and Valkyrie wakes up we'll head off to find this cave." Skulduggery planned by China shook her head.

"No. This mission, I'm afraid, is too dangerous for just the two of you. This is a Dead Man kind of mission, so all of us will be going. With exception of me, of course. I'll be here all warm and cozy and safe. Statistically, one out of four people dies when they attempt this giant feat, even though the said monster in their way is always sleeping." China said and Skulduggery dipped his hat lower, obviously the only one understanding where China meant. The two exchanged brief knowing looks and walked off, not explaining to everyone else.

"Well, I've got to do a... thing. I'll be back by this afternoon." Tanith said awkwardly and left. The up-side of Dexter sitting and waiting for so long was that he noticed things he wouldn't normally notice and he had time to actually think about things. Tanith had been disappearing a lot lately and no one knew where she'd been going. He had thought about the possibility of her betraying them but then he thought back to what Alice had said.

 _ **If you can't trust your friends, then who can you trust?**_ Dexter wasn't altogether sure if he should go with his brain and not trust Tanith anymore, or with his gut feeling that she was just doing something that she wanted to be private. There were many logical explanations for her disappearing. Like she could be dating someone. Dexter knew that if he couldn't trust his closest friends then it was a pretty sad world indeed.

Vex wasn't the only one who was contemplating something Alice had said. For some reason, the words ' _ **Why should I? You just want to put me and my friends in jail for no reason'**_ were playing on repeat in Ellion's head. He didn't find what they did was fair to Alice or Vivi. They really had no right to arrest them and he knew that if China Sorrows wasn't Grand Mage they wouldn't have been allowed to. The girls never did anything wrong, just because they were fighting against the Sanctuary's unjust motives and because they were battling head to head with Skulduggery and Valkyrie in an end-of-the-world vision that hadn't even begun to happen yet.

Ellion didn't know why Skulduggery would jump to conclusions and immediately think the worst of the girls and that Alice and Vivi were evil. At least, that was what he told himself. In reality, he knew that it was to protect everyone else before getting close to them and letting them destroy the world like what happened with Valkyrie and Darquesse. Skulduggery already had a bit of a weak spot for Alice since she was Valkyrie's sister and Vivi...she was something else entirely. Ellion knew that he shouldn't trust them yet because they still knew so little about the two girls. 

He hated to admit it, but Skulduggery wasn't the only one that had taken a liking to Alice. She was a little younger than him but so smart and mature and composed but fiery and strong and opinionated and, to an extent, well-spoken. He imagined she was beautiful too, he hadn't yet seen her face. He had spoken to Skulduggery, Tanith, and China when they first brought Alice and Vivi into the Sanctuary and had suggested that they shouldn't arrest them but instead train them. 

What if the reason that they were evil in the vision is that they were immediately turned against the Sanctuary after being taken into jail with no crimes committed? The two girls were absolutely special and very powerful. They'd be a great asset to the team. Thankfully they agreed with him and gave him a solid lecture about how they weren't to be trusted and blah, blah, blah. He saw Dexter watching him. Dexter had been sitting there twenty-four/seven waiting for Valkyrie. Everyone could see how much she meant to him.

"Hey, can you please stop that? I've not slept properly in a week and your constant toe-tapping is torturing me." Dexter asked him with a sigh and rubbed his tired face with his hand.

"Sorry," Ellion replied sheepishly and moved to sit down next to the older man. As soon as his bottom hit the chair he stood back up in alarm. The door to Valkyrie and Alice's room swung open noiselessly and Dr Synecdoche walked out, her low heels drumming against the marble floor. Dexter groaned and covered his ears.

"I thought I asked you to stop that Ell."

"Mr Vex, you're not looking like your usual charming self." The doctor said with a smile in her voice. Dexter's head snapped up at the sound of her speech so fast that Ellion was surprised when he heard no cracking of cartilage.

"News, doctor?" Saracen asked her, and she nodded.

"Yes, both of them are in great condition and should wake up within a day or two. All our tests have been run and we've come to the conclusion that Valkyrie's body was still mending a few minor flaws in her healing and Alice was completely drained from her power and energy but both will be fine. You can go in and see them now. But stay quiet please." Reverie Synecdoche informed them with a pointed glance at Saracen and Dexter. She remembered all too vividly when Skulduggery and Dexter had played a prank on Saracen. It was during Darquesse's raid; Dexter's bloody body was found and taken to the medical wing in a hurry to try and revive him. Saracen had thought his best friend Dexter Vex was killed. After weeks of unknowing Skulduggery had walked sombrely up to the man's hospital bed where he lay, broken legs and arms still healing from having a brick wall dumped on him.

"Saracen, there's some bad news." Skulduggery had begun leaving Saracen heartbroken and devastated before he finished off saying "I'm afraid that Dexter...will unfortunately still be around to annoy us for a few more decades."

"Come on, that was fifteen years ago!" Saracen protested.

"I had you with a cast on each limb and a neck brace waddling around the medical wing trying to stab a hysterical Dexter Vex with a syringe filled with a highly effective, dangerously strong numbing agent!" Doctor Synecdoche raised her eyebrows and the two guilty friends looked at each other shamefacedly. "Come inside then, and I'm serious, no trying to kill each other in the medical wing. At least wait until you walk outside my wing of the Sanctuary.

... Day 7 ...

Dexter still hadn't slept well. Or shaved. That annoyed him. He expected Valkyrie to wake up at every small sound he heard. He kept his eyes glued to her and vowed to be the first one to ask if she was okay. He wanted her to know how much he cared for her, even if he couldn't tell her the full truth of the matter. Ellion had stayed the night as well, after everyone else had left for the night it was arranged for the two to sleep in armchairs next to the girls. It was almost lunchtime and the doctor said they'd been awake by now. Dexter was worried about Valkyrie. And Alice. But mostly Valkyrie. He reached out and held her cold hand, shuffling his chair closer to her hospital bed.

"You really love her, don't you?" The young boy opposite him said. Dexter looked up, dropping Valkyrie's hand at the sound of Ellion's voice. Vex had momentarily forgotten that the boy was capable of taking and thinking too. Everything around him seemed so still and blurred, it had been like that for a week now.

"Of course I do, and any one of the Dead Men would say the same," Dexter replied, pretending to misinterpret what Tanith's nephew was asking him.

"That's not what I meant." Ellion grinned and Dexter didn't answer for a long time.

"What about you and Alice? She did this to Valkyrie and caused so much trouble for us and she might be on the other side, but you're still vouching for her." Dexter questioned, trying to turn the embarrassment on Ellion. He had caught the 19-year-old boy staring at the 17-year-old girl with attraction in his eyes. Alice was a pretty little thing. But he hadn't quite figured out her personality yet. She was odd. It was like she was cold and unmovable, making decisions quickly and eager to cause problems for them. But there were times when there were glimpses of a hurt, confused little girl who was trying to please her mother and help people.

"I feel sorry for her. It couldn't be easy, going through what she has. Finding out that she was magic and feeling alone and alienated. Then being found and taken in by people who called themselves Mutants and did amazing things and still finding out she was different to even them. Then being told she had an older sister who her mother clearly cared more for, being arrested for no reason by strange people she didn't know. Soon she'll feel like she fits in with this world only to be told how different she is from us as well. There is something in her that it seems like no one else apart from Vivi has, she's going to feel dissimilar and separate for the rest of her life and no one can help her with that." Ellion expressed his thoughts passionately.

"I guess I never thought of it in that way," Dexter admitted, it got him thinking.

"I'm gonna get us some lunch." Ellion sighed and left the room. Just as he left Valkyrie began to stir. Dexter's heart leapt in his chest. She opened her brilliant dark eyes and smiled weakly at him.


	27. Another Day Has Passed (Day 4)

Another day had passed and few advances were made. Saracen had come by and told him of what happened in the meeting. They had decided on asking Vivi about what she could do with her magic but no one could get a straight answer out of her, or understand the weird riddles she spoke in. They suspected she was just saying random things that made no sense to baffle them. So no one was any closer to finding out what type of magic she had. The only thing that was sure was that someone, an unknown source that Vivi liked to call 'the hot one', had told them that she and Alice were special.

"We already knew they were special, it's no big deal." Dexter had complained to Saracen when he had told him. "They were both fighting against us in the end-of-the-world visions."

"Yes, but that's not it. We're going to try getting sensitives to find out who he is tonight. He knows something about them that we don't. I just know it." Saracen had sighed in annoyance and left Dexter alone to his thoughts.

The only progress they had made was the estimated guess that the reason behind Alice's power was because she was descended to the Ancients. That was it. The mutants were merging their knowledge of magic with the Sanctuary's, and new science-magic theories were made. There was still no news of when the two sisters would wake up.


	28. Surprise Entrance

Valkyrie waited patiently alone in the room for Dexter to return with Doctor Synecdoche to give her the all-clear. He had left about five minutes ago and already she was restless. She'd never been the patient type. Ten more minutes passed and the door opened in a large arc. A dark-skinned girl with long black hair raced up to Valkyrie and grinned maniacally.

"My name is Viviane Vixen! You can call me Vivi! Alice is my sister! You are also my sister! Alice is fighting with mum because mum loves you better but I love everyone equally! Except that Alice is my favourite." the girl squealed in delight. 

Valkyrie pulled a confused face and opened her mouth to reply when her face was forced to the side by a hard slap with something slimy and scaly. She copped a mouthful of gross salty water and spat it out onto the floor in disgust. The girl laughed evilly and exited the room as abruptly as she'd entered it leaving Valkyrie shocked and revolted. The door reopened and she cringed, wishing that it was not the crazy girl come back with an octopus or something of similar smell and texture. She let out a sigh of relief when her doctor walked in with Dexter close behind her. Before she could explain the strange event that had just occurred Reverie Synecdoche began her check-up and the memory was pushed from her mind.


	29. Waking Up

Alice awoke to a pounding headache. She smelt the antiseptic aroma of a hospital and her eyes fluttered open. She was lying on her right side and so she didn't need to try too hard to see her supposed 'sister' lying awake in the bed beside hers talking to that man from the magic police. Alice immediately pretended to still be unconscious and eavesdropped on their conversation.

"-you remember?" she heard the man ask the taller girl.

"I remember hearing a scraping sound and going towards it. But then Saracen jumped out from behind the dumpster and he...he attacked me. I couldn't see much but the next thing I knew I was lying on the hard cold ground and a white-hot pain in my chest. Then you came and I blacked out." She answered thoughtfully. "Dexter, what is going on?"

"Yeah, well first, that wasn't Saracen. It was actually the Wolverine. The X-men are real and Mutants are real. They are a form of sorcerers, a new breed. Just like we have Witches, Warlocks, Necromancers, Adepts and Elementals. Now we have Mutants. They've always thought their uniqueness was an enhanced gene. But with our combined knowledge we've found out that our ability to use magic is actually an inactive gene found in all of us that varies slightly for everyone. The gene becomes activated by a certain code of DNA that was created through a mutation. The actual magic we pull power from comes from the source of all magic. Our true names are like a code that allows us to open the connection fully. If a person's true name is more connected to the source of magic than there is more of a chance of them being an active, powerful sorcerer.

"We've formed a friendship between the Mutants and our magic community. This afternoon we're meeting with the director of the X-men and principle of the mutant school to try and merge our two war units into working with each other." Dexter brought her sister (and naively also Alice) up to date with all that had been happening on that subject. Alice inwardly cringed. Her friends had been brainwashed into trusting these people who said they were doing what they did for the greater good but were lying. Alice stopped to think, she never actually had been told what made them so bad or what they did or how it was wrong but her mentor had told her so and she believed him so she pushed all her doubts aside.

"I told Saracen he looked like Hugh Jackman. But if the X-men are all real then why is there a movie series and how are Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry real people?" Stephanie... no, Valkyrie, enquired. Huh, Alice had thought the same thing when she first found out.

"It's actually their reflections. They know a few things we've found out. A sorcerer well-practised in runes drew the symbol for one of them and now everyone in the movies are reflections who are now working a double life because someone leaked the secret of the mutants. Like Kenny Dune, someone caught lots of video evidence of them and posted it on the media, they had Charles Xavier mind-wash him into believing he leaked exclusive footage of a new movie series and came up with false previous lives for these reflections as actors, managing to brainwash absolutely everyone into believing it. So they had to make a movie franchise. And the movies aren't all true. It was a clever cover-up." Dexter replied and Alice thought to herself that if they had learned to so much and so much had happened a long time must have passed since the last time they were awake.

"There's so much in this world that we don't know about. So how long have I been out for?" she questioned, thinking along the same lines as her younger sister.

"A week. Alice is still out. Fixing you took a lot out of her." The answer came and Alice jolted when she heard her name.

"Woah, a whole week?! That's a long time. Alice saved my life though. Her friend Vivi is...odd." Valkyrie smiled, trying to be as polite as possible. Alice almost grinned too. Her friend certainly was an... interesting person.

"That she is," Dexter smirked and choked back a laugh.

"When you went to get Doctor Synecdoche she slapped me across the face with a wet fish. And I have the unsettling feeling that it wasn't dead.

"Did she?! She said she was going to do it but I didn't think she actually would do it!" He snorted.

"Wait a minute. I just realized that there was something as big as an entire race of Mutants that Skulduggery didn't know about. Oh, he is going to get teased big time for all the times he told me something was real and I believed him and then he laughed at me." Valkyrie whooped. Then her good mood vanished. "So Alice is magic. That's it. There's no backing out for her now."

"It could be a good thing. As soon as she's awake each of us is going to train her. We've already started on Vivi. She's..."

"Completely terrible at it?" Valkyrie laughed, expecting Dexter to agree and laugh along with her.

"Actually, no. It's scary how many ways she knows how to hurt and kill people." Dexter shuddered. **_That's my Vivi_** , Alice thought triumphantly.

"Creepy," was Valkyrie's reply. There was a small rattle of a door handle turning and the sound of light footsteps.

"Anything?" she heard the boy she'd talked to earlier, Ellion Rune, ask.

"No, she's completely out. Doctor Synecdoche said that she'd be awake by now." Valkyrie responded. "Why do you keep visiting her?"

"I feel bad about how everyone is treating her and Vivi. They didn't know anything about us or our world and we arrested them when they did nothing but defend themselves from danger. Then we were planning to throw them in jail as soon as Alice heals. Luckily I convinced Skulduggery that it wasn't a good idea. But it's still not right." He explained to her and Alice wholeheartedly agreed with what he was saying. It was all true. She felt thankful towards him for understanding. At least she would have if he wasn't the enemy. They were quiet for a while. **_They're too stubborn to admit their mistakes_** , Alice growled in her head.

"Is it true that she's fighting with mum?" Valkyrie asked and Alice had to resist the urge to scowl. It was unfair that now this brat was her mother's favourite.

"Yeah, she was really angry when your mum chose you over her." Dexter sighed. "China thinks it best to put them both in jail when they're not training. It's the next best thing to keeping them locked up full time."

"She wants to do what! Alice is my sister!" Valkyrie shouted, anger hardening her voice. "Are you all idiots! What the hell is going through your minds?! Did you all get brain damage while I was gone?"

"I can see China's point! She's unpredictable. She threatened to kill us and could do so with a wave of her hand. She has already organized a strike against us. She's smart and has a magic no one has ever heard of and a mysterious man aiding her cause. She's no Mutant but she doesn't fall under the category of any sorcerer either. It proves that the legends are most likely true." Dexter began getting mad at Valkyrie's stubbornness.

 ** _Legends?_** Alice thought. **_What legends? Wait a minute, Jail!_**

"Is there some sort of a petition going around to make my family's life miserable or something like that and everyone has signed it?" Valkyrie retorted. "I don't fall under any category of sorcerer either! You don't see anyone in a hurry to throw me in jail."

"Yeah, but we know we can trust you. We don't know her and as much as you hate to admit it you don't know her either. You left her. You left your parents, you left Alice, you left Skulduggery and you left me! You don't know her anymore, Cain, and she doesn't know you. And neither does Melissa or Desmond. She's been so withdrawn from them her whole life that they only barely know who she is as a person, they told me themselves. They saw too much of you in her and it hurt them too much so they kept their distance. You ruined her life when you left. You ruined your parents' lives. You ruined Skulduggery's life! You're like his daughter, best friend and combat accessory all rolled into one and he was lost without you. He stopped being himself. He stopped being talkative or egotistical or happy. All he was focused on was his job because he couldn't bear thinking about you being gone. You were too self-obsessed that you didn't think about how anyone else felt. All you thought about was what you did. What you needed to suffer for. Not how other people would suffer because of your actions!" Dexter ranted and when he was finished his anger subsided.

Alice took a moment to digest what she had heard. So it wasn't just her who thought those things. Others knew it was true as well. This fuelled Alice's resentment toward her sister.

Dexter didn't mean to say that. That was what he told himself, but there was something deep inside him that knew it was true. It was all the resentment that had built up within him over the years she was gone. And Valkyrie knew it was true too. She was silent. He didn't dare speak again. There were two ways he could imagine her retaliating to this. She could break down crying and start cursing herself. Or she could strike back with hurtful remarks of her own. He knew both would hurt him. But apparently, there was a third option, and that was the option she took. She changed the subject.

"What do you think Alice will do when she wakes up?" She spoke in a quiet, broken voice.

"Why don't you ask me yourself?" Alice hissed and sat up. Everyone flinched. At that moment Vivi came in with a wet fish in one hand and a sneaky grin on her face. Alice ripped the covers from herself and dashed forward to grab Vivi's hand. The rest were too shocked to move.

"Vivi, take us out of here now! I promise you can get ice-cream!" Alice ordered. Dexter broke from his trance first and lunged for the girls but it was too late. Vivi had pulled her hand through the air, opened a portal and the girls disappeared through it, closing behind them like a zipper.

Vivi's shriek of "Yay! Ice-cream! I want sprinkles!" was the last thing to two girls left behind.


	30. Start from Scratch

"She was awake the whole time! Why did they leave?" Valkyrie croaked, the tears that were in her eyes came trickling out. The two boys thought that it was because Alice and Vivi escaped but really it was because of what Dexter had said to her. She felt her heart ache again but she pushed it aside to deal with it later.

"Well, as shocking as it is to understand, I actually think that they don't want to go to jail. Just a guesstimate." Ellion shrugged sarcastically.

"So now we have to find them again. Starting from scratch always sucks." Dexter sighed, oblivious to the fact that he had caused Valkyrie to cry. "I'll tell everyone the news. We'll need to lure them in with something."

"At least this time we have the X-men on our side to tell us where they're likely to go." Ellion tried to be hopeful but they all knew that if Alice and Vivi didn't want to be found, they wouldn't be.


	31. The Mysterious Stranger

Alice sat on the corner of the bustling street in the cold weather waiting for Vivi to come back. She'd gone to get an ice-cream; her favourite had always been the little shop in Ireland at Porter street under the bridge. It was here where they first met, too. While she waited, Alice thought about the events of the last twenty-four hours - or rather, the last week if what she had been told was true - and the people she had met. It wasn't her fault that she had woken up one day and slowly started developing magic. Then Professor Xavier had picked up their high levels of magic and sent the X-men to find them. Soon after she awoke at midnight to the sound of the bedroom window being slammed shut. When she had gone to investigate nothing was there. But strange things began happening for weeks after that. She knew someone was watching her and Vivi.

She was a bright girl and had always found everyday life boring, often indulging herself in the wonders of fictional books. She longed for something exhilarating, something extraordinary. Then **_he_** came. He promised her and Vivi a life of adventure and magic. A life she'd only ever read about in books or seen in movies like Harry Potter. Something she had written about (she was an avid reader and quite a talented writer like her uncle Gordon was). She'd never met him but she'd read his books and they inspired her. So when the man with magic came telling her that everything he wrote about was true she was driven even more to have her own adventures and write about them someday.

The boy told her she was smart and beautiful and special, offered her and Vivi friendship, a mentor and a job as a private assassin she had agreed in a hurry. Alice had taken an instant liking to his charms. When he said her name it was like she only wanted to listen to him and do exactly what he said. She felt obliged to obey him. She was only seventeen, but was that love? She thought it was. He had entrancing turquoise eyes that contrasted against his blonde hair. But something that really stood out was a black sigil of sorts that was tattooed onto the back of his neck.

He had only gotten her to do a few small jobs or him here and there. First, he told her and Vivi to sneak down into the Caves of the Void under Gordon's house to bring him back black crystals. Next, she brought him a snow globe from a cold building in the cemetery. Just a few odd tasks, nothing that matched up or made any sense, but she did it because she wanted someone to like her. She wanted to feel special. Her parents had always been distracted by something. Something better than she was. It was only now that she realized the lack of enthusiasm when she'd aced a test. Because she could always do better. Or when she topped a class, because the class was useless in life or there was always room for improvement.

Little did she know that the entire time she was being compared to a perfect older sister who she never knew she had. She never felt special or truly loved or noticed. But **_he_** treated her like she was his queen and she liked that. So she stole what he told her to steal. Like the crystals and the snow globe and also the star thing from the abandoned lab in the old cinema, and the little shiny disk from the burnt closed down library. All the places she'd never expect to have any leads to magic. In return he gave her the special medicine that helped her stabilize her magic, to stop her from blacking out whenever she used it. It still happened but not as often. The medicine must be working for she had been using magic all day and nothing had happened.

But the last time she saw him he told her that the Sanctuary would come for them, magic police, and to pay attention to why they wanted her and Vivi to tell him. It was then when she began to doubt his reasons for doing bad things like stealing. But he had still shown up for her when the tall, large man attacked her in the street when she and Vivi missed the school bus. She had been so scared and she wished she didn't remember but it was as clear as a summer day in her mind.


	32. The Flashback

_She waved goodbye to her best friends Dove and Harley and turned to Vivi._

_"The bus is late, it's never this late," she commented and Vivi smiled cheerfully._

_"Oh, do you mean the six-five-eight? Our school bus? The one that just went past about seventy-three minutes ago?" Vivi asked, still smiling._

_"What!? Oh my gosh! we missed the bus! It's already almost five The sun's going down in an hour or two! Mum's going to kill us!" Alice shrieked and grabbed Vivi's hand. The two ran fast as they could hauling their heavy school bags, but didn't get far before they were exhausted. Fat drops of water splattered across the pavement as it began to rain._

_"Seriously! Why is the universe trying to kill me!" Alice yelled up at the sky and the rain pounded down even heavier than before. It was dark and wet and the two girls would have to continue in this weather for another forty minutes. So they trudged along._

_Vivi happily splashed around in the ankle-deep and steadily rising puddles. But the cherry on top of the sundae was when a giant four-wheel-drive sped by and they were sprayed with a mixture of mud and water. Three parts mud, one-part water. The sludge covered them completely. Hopefully, the rain would wash it off on the way home and mum wouldn't notice, Alice had thought to herself._

_"This is like a day in heaven!" Vivi twirled. "FIRST WE GET A FREE SHOWER AND NOW WE GET A FREE MUD BATH! Wait up Mr with the truck! I want another mud bath. What do you think I am, made of money!? I can't afford to go to the spa! Come back!"_

_"Vivi, no!" Alice called out to Vivi and chased after her sister, who was running after the car, that was driving all through the side streets in the suburb behind the one they lived in. The car disappeared, the two girls were left stranded and slightly lost. It was still raining and the low rumble of thunder had begun, leaving flashes of electric light across the slate grey sky._

_"Come on, let's go. I think I recognize that street up there." Alice grumbled but she quickly realized that they weren't the only people walking on that road. There was an overweight man and he was coming towards them from behind. That was odd. No one in their sane minds would be out in this weather, especially not for a simple stroll. Then the man started barreling towards them. Alice cried out. Vivi turned to see what the fuss was about and her face brightened up._

_"Yay! The nice man wants a hug!" she cheered and if it wasn't for Alice holding her back, she would have run straight into the man for a hug._

_"Hide here and wait till I get back. Don't move! If you're good, I'll get you ice-cream." Alice promised and Vivi ducked behind the rose bushes in some random person's front yard. As Alice made sure the man saw her and ran in the opposite direction Vivi rolled around in the muddy grass playing commando._

_"I'm sorry, civilian, but you're being arrested for stealing Ice-cream!" Vivi badly imitated a low bellowing voice and glared at her right hand. She wriggled her fingers, changing her voice to a high pitched whine. "No officer, I swear I didn't do it!" she replied to herself and while the puppet show went on Alice still ran._

_She tried to shake him off in the back streets but he was persistent. The weather wasn't helping either. So she abandoned her plan of losing him and instead led him to the small shop that sold curdled milk and mouldy bread to desperate passers-by who'd forgotten to add something to their shopping lists and opted for a closer, cheaper option. She figured that there would be people there. But when Alice reached the corner shop, she was shocked to find a bright coloured 'sorry, we're closed' sign hung up on the door. The animated girl licking a lolly-pop on the sign failed miserably to give a happy vibe in the circumstances. Sweat dripped from her face mixing with the thundering rain and the mixture caused her clothes to cling to her skin. Alice Edgley glanced over her shoulder behind her and saw nothing but darkness. Her muscles were burning and she felt out of breath._

_Panic took over. What was she meant to do now?! She racked her brains for a solution. "You can't use magic because it drains you and you'll be left weak and defenceless so think, Alice. Think!" she told herself and watched her reflection in the glass. She looked around and when she was satisfied that nothing was behind her she had a better look at herself._

_She saw herself, a teenage girl with long, curly hair of the darkest brown that was hanging wet from the rain. Alice noticed she was short and curvy and her upper body muscles were not nearly defined enough to put up much of a fight. But she still had strong shapely legs. Good for kicking. She stared into her own golden hazel eyes speckled with deep green and they were full of fear. Alice saw a tall shadowy figure of the man behind her in the glass._

_She whirled and the man closed his fist around her throat, slamming her through the glass. Long shards embedded itself in her arms, drawing blood. She glanced up at the man pulling back his fist to punch her and she turned her head._

_But just as the hand came pummelling for her face a dark shadow interrupted her vision and a large dog stepped in-between her and the man. The dog growled and the blonde man backed off, stumbling before getting his footing back underneath him and running off. Alice sighed in sweet relief. The dog whimpered, snuggling close to her as if it could sense her fear. She patted it's soaked, furry brown coat. She was tired, wet, scared, and freezing. Her parents would be worried sick about her. She needed to find Vivi and now this stray dog had taken a liking to her._

_It was a huge regal looking dog. It was only when Alice looked closer that she realized it was actually a wolf. She thought of how it possibly could have gotten there when a person stepped nearer, panting. Fear clouded her mind again but she gasped in relief when she recognized the young man as her mentor. His turquoise eyes seemed to glitter even in this bad lighting and he bent down to help her up, a worried expression branding his face._

_"Are you okay?" he asked her, concern shining through his voice._

_"I'm fine. Thank you so much. You sent the wolf, didn't you?" she asked and looked down at her new friend as an excuse to avoid looking into his mesmerizing eyes._

_"I have another job for you. Alice, I need you to meet me in a week's time at the ice-cream shop in Ireland, the same time as last," he instructed her, making sure her name was clearly and boldly spoken. There it was again. That feeling that she wanted and had to do everything he asked of her. She nodded._

_"We'll be there," she promised._

_"Good, I knew I could count on you. I trust that you are still taking your medicine. It's essential you have one tablet every night or else your magic will overpower you." he flashed her his winning smile. "Oh, and I found something that I think belongs to you."_

_Vivi came into view and she was finishing her play with a bow and round of applause for herself._

_"Thank you, you're too kind..." she gushed at the invisible audience with a modest wave of the hand. Then she screamed when she saw her sister. "Alice! You promised me ice-cream!"_


	33. The 'Hot One'

Alice remembered how worried she had been about how her parents were going to react. When she got home her Father was asking if it was his pride and joy at the door. Alice's heart had swelled at that but then her mother had replied with a simple 'no, it's the other one,' and he had lost interest. Her mother had followed up her inquiry with 'do your homework and then finish your chores, you forgot to clean the bathrooms last night'. The happy feeling deflated. So Alice and Vivi hid the wolf in the garage and set it up a nice comfy temporary home. She'd woken up early, fed it, still, her parents didn't notice anything unusual. The wolf had enough food and water for about a week in the shed but a week had passed so the next thing on Alice's list was to go home and feed her again.

But even though she didn't say anything to Vivi or her master, Alice knew something was a bit fishy about the whole situation. That fat man had turned up for a reason. He wasn't your average male kidnapper; she had felt the magic running through him. He was part of this world and had targeted her and Vivi for some reason. But what could anyone want with her and Vivi?

Alice was woken from her thoughts with a sharp poke on her cheek. She turned her head to see Vivi with a large dollop of pink and blue bubble-gum blitz ice-cream on her nose.

"Alice, the Hot One is watching you!" Vivi squealed merrily. "The one that you love!"

"I don't love him!" Alice shook her head in denial with a high-pitched voice signalling that she was obviously lying.

"Yeah, and I don't like ice-cream." Vivi nodded sarcastically.

"Alice, Vivi, punctual as usual." A smooth, young, playful voice said from behind them and Alice felt the blush creep onto her cheeks.

"Oh, what are you doing here? It's such a surprise to see you in the exact same place as we are." Vivi attempted acting smooth and winked at Alice, thinking she was doing a good job.

"Well, we wouldn't want you missing us," she spoke, ignoring Vivi as she stood up and turned to face him.

"Vivi I wouldn't mind a long break from. You on the other hand..." the young boy with the tattoo trailed off leaving Alice's blush to burn a furious shade of red.

"How could you not miss me? I mean, I'm Viviane Vixen, everyone loves me!" Vivi interrupted, aghast. She was ignored.

"So, what's our next job, captain?" Alice replied with a mock salute.

"I am aware that you have recently met your older sister you never knew existed and her motley crew. No matter what they say or do, you need to remember where your loyalties lie. Alice, don't trust them. I have your medicine for the week, take every tablet, and don't forget. Next week at eleven PM you will meet me here with Vivi and tell me of their plans." he commanded. Alice felt the need to do what he said and distrust invaded her opinions of the new people she had met. He handed her the plastic bag of small, purple tablets to help her control her magic. She took them and shoved them into her jacket pocket.

"But, now listen very carefully, I want you to pretend to like them and trust them and be on their side. You are to become one of them, make them trust you. The boy, the one that is two years older than you, Ellion Rune, get close to him. Make him fall helplessly in love with you. He is a simple-minded fool who can prove himself valuable to our cause. If you can get him to trust you and get the others to believe you truly care about him then you will be accepted into their ranks. Remember everything they tell you, from their favourite ice-cream flavour to their deepest regrets. Know their plans and strategies, everything. You will be my agents on the inside. Alice, you will do exactly as I have just instructed you." he told her forcefully. She nodded already a plan hatching in her mind. For she was a great author. And great authors had even greater characters. 


	34. The Plot Thickens

The large man waited for his son to return home and as he waited he spoke to the Faceless Ones, and their all-mighty master, the Unnamed. When he heard the door to the family shrine open and close he turned to face the intruder who had remained quiet.

"Son, you have returned. Tell me good news." The tall, fat man with the blonde hair exited the room, closely followed by his son to the kitchen

"The plan is falling together perfectly. All we need now is the magic to make our master complete. By the end of this week, we will have all that we need to free our master of his prison. Is the weapon nearly ready?" The young boy asked his father.

"Soon. Mr Nadir returned with the weapon and I'm working on the improvements. The useless weasel Serpine had no idea how valuable that weapon he had in his hands was. Mevolant and his armies are preparing to be shunted over in order to assist our master in the final battle before the Unnamed shall rightfully rule the world." The father responded and filled a glass of rich red wine.


	35. Ice-cream Shop

" ** _What_** happened?!" China Sorrows fumed, rage clear in her elegant features. Valkyrie knew she was angry now. Not because of what she had said. Or the tone in which she had said it in. But Valkyrie knew China was angry because of her facial expressions. China Sorrows was known for her placidity and emotionless expressions throughout a number of situations. The Dead Men, Monster Hunters, Tanith, and Ellion were gathered around a table in the debriefing room.

Valkyrie looked to Dexter Vex who was seated next to her, much to her distaste. But it didn't matter how upset she was with him, it didn't stop her from seeing how handsomely rugged he looked with a week's worth of stubble.

"We have no idea how they did it. They just held hands and disappeared through a portal of sorts in thin air." Ellion explained.

"We've sent Fletcher to every place we thought they'd be but we can't find them." Donegan Bane spoke up.

"Did you ask the Mutants? They would know them better." China suggested, her anger subsiding.

"We asked them and they said that they're likely to be at some ice-cream shop here in Ireland. I think it's safe to say they weren't going to go there." Dexter rolled his eyes with a grin. Valkyrie tried to sink lower in her chair, his words from earlier still echoed in her brain. He was right, of course, but that didn't make the truth any less painful.

"How would we know? As you so correctly stated we don't know her or Vivi." Valkyrie shot back at the blonde Dead Man. She wasn't about to let him know how upset she was so she replied with anger. Dexter's face dropped and neither person felt good about the situation they'd found themselves in.

"No, Dexter is right. They wouldn't be stupid enough to go to an ice-cream shop." China thought out loud. "So where would they be?"

"I am wounded!" A fronted voice came from the window and heads turned as Vivi climbed in.

"Oh, apparently they are coming in through the window. That's where they would be." Tanith said sarcastically at China.

"Well, doors are for people with no imagination after all." Skulduggery murmured gleefully.

"Why wouldn't I be at an ice-cream shop right now? The only reason I'm not is that Alice needs me so she doesn't make a mumbling fool of herself in front of..." Vivi was cut off by a hand coming through the window and punching her on the shoulder. The hands were attached to an arm and that arm was attached to Alice.

"Chocolate abbs. Yep. That's what I was going to say, she was just telling me to take a look at a hot muscly man whose name is chocolate abbs, not Dexter." Vivi finished, happy that she had protected her friend's secret. Alice inwardly cursed herself for discussing the attractiveness of a boy with Vivi.

Valkyrie and Ellion both raised their eyebrows jealously at a burning red Alice while everyone else stared awkwardly at the scene in front of them. Dexter looked embarrassed. Ellion didn't know why he felt slightly jealous.

" Vivi!" Alice groaned through gritted teeth and facepalmed. She wished she could disappear.

"Oh! Don't worry Dexter, she doesn't like you, she just thinks you're one of the handsomest men she's ever seen." Vivi waved her hand dismissively and the people at the table felt terrible for Alice.

"Don't worry about that Alice. Everyone in this room has thought about Dexter's abbs at some point. Even me, and I have no shame in admitting it." Tanith supported Alice and the girl smiled at her gratefully. Valkyrie shot Tanith a shocked glance and Tanith tried to communicate with her dark-haired friend through her eyes. When Valkyrie understood what her friend was asking her to do she shook her head vigorously. Tanith gave her a hard glare.

"Uh, yeah. I guess we're more alike than I first thought Alice. In fact..." Valkyrie sighed and gulped, dreading what she was about to say to encourage her sister and make her feel more comfortable. "I remember this one time when we were being briefed about a mission during the war between sanctuaries and Dexter's shirt was off. I must admit, I blanked out and the whole meeting had to be said again."

"I'm feeling slightly objectified here." Dexter grinned at Valkyrie but she scowled at him in return before gifting the very same look to a smug-looking Tanith Low.

"Shut up," Valkyrie growled at him and he laughed.

"Oh, are those really what I think they are!?" Vivi gasped and walked forward into nothingness, electric blue light shining from where she disappeared.

China blinked in astonishment and suddenly blue light flashed from underneath them and Vivi came sliding out from a portal under the table next to the Grand Mage's seat. A creepy grin was embossed on her face and she reached one hand up to the document China held in her hand, taking off the paper clip and snapping it open and closed.

"I've always wanted one of these! I'll just 'borrow' this." she giggled and pulled the container of paper clips off the glass table and looking around frantically at everyone before sliding back under the table. No one had to try too hard to see what she was doing because the table was glass and they could all see straight through it. So when she opened up a portal with glowing red light and began shoving the box of paper clips inside everyone could see. There seemed to be something taking up space on the other side because she was struggling to push it through. She paused to catch her breath and when she looked up to stretch her neck she saw the people at the table staring at her. Vivi smiled guiltily.

"Is it just me or does she give you the creeps?" Saracen whispered to Gracious and Donegan.

"She reminds me of a scarier Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter." Gracious

"Oh, look! It's a blobfish!" she spluttered and assumed everyone had turned to look at what she had pointed to at the far end of the room.

She piled the paper clips into her mouth which left her cheeks looking swollen like a chipmunk. Valkyrie remembered once when she was younger and her parents had taken her to the dentist to get a tooth removed because it had cracked when she fell headfirst into a table. The dentist had given her a numbing needle and she had felt like her mouth was blown up. What Vivi looked like now was how she felt like she looked back then.

"Viviana Vixen! You put those back right now! You went to jail when you stole the echidna's from the zoo, why would this be any different?" Alice lectured, finally having something to keep her mind off of her embarrassment. Vivi slowly spat out all the paper clips into the bucket, zipped the portal closed and offered the now saliva filled container back to China who swallowed in disgust.

"You can keep it." she breathed, revolted. Vivi's eyes lit up, she turned away from Alice and zipped open the portal again, pushing it through.

"Say thank you, Vivi. Come on, you don't want to go back to jail, do you?" Alice questioned, mother-like.

"Oh no," Vivi shuddered, still crouched under the table. "Jail was so cold, there wasn't any ice-cream! All that anyone wore was grey jumpsuits! No one knew anything about fashion and there were no pink bows!"

The others at the table looked around to each other in bewilderment. Then Vivi's demeanour suddenly changed and she brightened up, crawling back out from under the table. She sprung up behind Skulduggery and clutched his arm with giant, pleading puppy-dog eyes.

"I brought you a pressie Mr C!" and surely enough Vivi pushed her hand through the air, opened up another portal, and pulled out a pink and white polka-dotted bow as big as Minnie mouse's head. "Will you pwease wear it? And if you take it off I'll be weally weally sad and...and maybe I'll jump off a cwiff!"

Skulduggery had taken quite a liking to the deranged little Vivi as she reminded him of his own, slightly crazy, four-year-old daughter. Even though Vivi was seventeen. He accepted the bow and allowed her to fasten it to his gleaming white skull after making sure he removed his hat. Vivi giggled and clapped like a toddler and sat on the floor next to him like a loyal dog. Again, Valkyrie longed for Xena, her one of the two only companions she had for the past fifteen years, to be with her. Danny hadn't called her yet but she was sure he was in Dublin for his tour. She hoped he'd pay a visit to her soon. But as much as she was angry, upset, and missed her faithful pet she couldn't pass up the opportunity to take photos of Skulduggery like he was. She and Tanith snapped a few photographs with their phones silently without anyone noticing.

"Vivi, where did you get that bow from?" Alice sighed, obviously used to this kind of thing.

Vivi scrunched up her face for a few minutes like she did when she was thinking. "On a bird's nest." she insisted.

"Where did you get it?" Alice repeated her question.

"On a little girl's head," Vivi admitted and hung her head low in shame. "But her hair was hideous! It looked like a bird's nest! She was right there and she was eating her strawberry supreme ice-cream and the bow was so pink!"

"Vivi! How could you? What have I told you about stealing? In the corner. Now?" Alice commanded and pointed towards the corner of the room. Vivi wiped her tears and stomped her feet noisily to show she was angry, but she did what she was told and sat in the corner. Her hand reached into another red portal and she pulled out a battered, old, stuffed gizmo bear from the movie 'Gremlins'. She began patting its head and looking around the room slowly with narrowed eyes.

"Soon Mortice... soon we will take over the world! We'll murder all these worthless beings and rip out their eyebrows to use as paintbrushes! We'll pull out all their teeth to make old people dentures and then we'll use those and a few eyeballs to put in our army of clones. We can make all the pretty people ugly by taking their hair and making carpets from Aladdin to show them the world we destroyed!" Vivi laughed evilly, muttering torture methods under her breath. The people sitting at the meeting table were deeply disturbed and shuffled their chairs further away. Alice just stood as if it was the most natural thing ever to have happened to her.

"So, where did you go? And why exactly are you back? Not that I'm ungrateful that we didn't have to waste our precious time on another mission." Tanith asked Alice, trying to take her eyes off Vivi who was rocking back and forth muttering in hissing whispers.

"Sit down, and tell us. I suppose you have a reason to be back here and it wasn't to give Skulduggery a bow that belongs to a girl with hair like a bird's nest." China gestured to the only empty chair at the table which was beside Dexter Vex. She eyed the chair cautiously and decided on not sitting there.

"We went to the ice-cream shop," Alice said plainly and swung herself up to sit on the corner of the table, her long legs swinging in the air under her rhythmically. Valkyrie gave Dexter a pointed glance.

"Oh, shut up, you," he whispered to her playfully, trying not to laugh. Valkyrie shrugged.

"And we came back because we assumed you need our help. We can be useful to you. So Vivi and I agreed that we would graciously join your little sanctuary. In return, you will do us a few favours." Alice spoke confidently.

"Stop right there young lady," China ordered. "So you just intruded on a private meeting, are bringing it upon yourself to employ both you and the psychopath planning our deaths in the corner over there, and on top of that, you are asking us to do you favours?"

"Yep, that's pretty much it." Alice nodded after sarcastically pretending to think it over.

"I like this chick." Tanith decided.

"Indeed." Saracen agreed.

"Don't even think about it, Saracen," Valkyrie said without even glancing in his direction.

"Okay." Saracen gave up pretty fast due to the tone of Valkyrie's voice. Somehow he knew that if he even tried to make a move on Alice (which would be extremely creepy due to their age difference), Valkyrie would restrict his movements to turning the wheels of a wheelchair.

But while the others were impressed by her decisiveness China was having none of it. "That's preposterous!"

"That's our deal. You can take it or leave it. " Alice sassed. "And considering you have no backup and we could just as easily join the other side because we have no loyalty to any of you,"

This was like a stab to Valkyrie's heart, especially when Alice fixed her magnificent hazel-green eyes on her dark brown ones. But Alice continued as if it was nothing.

"-I would suggest taking our offer."

"You can't expect us to agree to this nonsense, can you?!" China bellowed in outrage. Alice just raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow and stared straight into China's cold blue eyes. Valkyrie didn't expect this to end well. No one spoke like that to China Sorrows and got away with it.


	36. China's Revenge

"No. Our answer is no. Now get out and never come back." China ordered. Alice shrugged and moved her arms to slide off the table but Skulduggery stood up.

"China, these two have a point. Take the deal," he told her.

"Skulduggery, they're children." China shook her head.

"Valkyrie was only twelve when she was brought into this. People underestimated her and now look where she is. They're seventeen and have amazing magic never seen before. If they join the other side, they're a threat." Skulduggery persisted. China seemed to be mulling things over. Ellion had remained quiet throughout the whole meeting but he thought it was appropriate to say something now.

"China, imagine them as the enemy. You weren't there when Valkyrie was dying and Alice stitched her back together piece by piece. With proper training, they could be the difference between winning this war or being defeated. I imagine it's a lot easier breaking something than fixing it." Ellion tried to hint it to China that at every move they make to push the girls further away it's a step closer to them joining the other side like in the vision. China seemed to get the message and she went quiet, dreading having to contradict her original decision.

"So I suppose we have a deal?" Alice smiled sweetly just to rub it in and China gave up.

"Apparently so. If I knew that the Grand Mage was merely a figurehead while the real power players were behind all the decisions I would never have taken this job. Luckily it's not like this all the time or I would have quit a long time ago." China had a thunderous look on her face.

"So where do we begin?" Alice asked, clapping her hands together in delight.

"First things first, you need to be trained. Then tested. After and if you have proved yourselves worthy, then we'll talk business. We'll send a few Cleavers to escort you to your...rooms, to show how things are in our world and line of work. Tomorrow you will start your week's worth of training with us. At the end of the week, you will be put to a stimulation test where you will show us everything you have learnt. If you pass, then you will be accepted as an agent and briefed on the current situation. Fail, and you leave and don't come back, we'll have to cut you off from your magic so you won't pose a threat to us, so you'd better try your very best." China said firmly. A series of frowns spread through the table at China's conditions but Alice didn't seem to be fazed. After all, there wasn't a test she'd ever taken that she had failed at and a rare few that she had gotten below the eighty percent mark. How hard could it be anyway?

Alice suddenly hopped up and strolled casually over to Valkyrie, placing her hands on either side of Valkyrie's head. She stared straight into Valkyrie's confused face.

"Hey! What are you-" Valkyrie began but her eyes glazed over and she stopped abruptly. Movement erupted over the table. Before Dexter - who was sitting in the chair next to Valkyrie - could do anything to push Alice off of Valkyrie the curly-haired girl held one of her hands up in his direction and he was held back by a barrier of condensed air. After a few short moments, Alice pulled back and Valkyrie shook her head and stared at her sister in bewilderment.

"What the hell did you just do?" Dexter cursed and looked at Alice like she was a freak.

"My sister and I just shared a nice conversation." Alice smiled and her look turned icy cold when her eyes landed back to Valkyrie. The older girl had gone quiet.

"How on earth did you do that? You can heal wounds, control the wind element and now you can...what? Talk inside people's minds?" Gracious mused in awe. "This is just like when Jean Grey discovered that she could do so much more than what she had been limited to! What if we're all like Jean Grey!"

"Gracious, you may like to see yourself as a woman, but I am one hundred percent man." Donegan snorted.

"Well, to answer your question, I can manipulate atoms. But I'm also part physic. I can't do many things, but I can communicate in minds if I try really hard. I guess, I kind of have dreams about things that haven't happened yet. But I have no idea how to control it or know when it's going to happen, it could happen in twenty years, or in a few hours. And just when I'm asleep. I'm not really sure what else I can do. The truth is, I've never been able to use much magic without passing out or feeling weak afterwards but the more I use magic the more abilities I unlock. I think I must be getting more powerful." Alice tilted her head in deep thought.

"And what about that charming young woman over there?" Tanith nodded to Vivi with a cheeky grin on her face.

"Vivi can manipulate space. Like area. She can open up voids or portals that are created by ripping open the very fabric of reality into nothingness. Like an empty room, waiting to be decorated. Another thing she has discovered is that she can bring life to inanimate objects."

"What, like she can make a candlestick grow eyes, a mouth and a nose and start singing be our guest?" Saracen laughed.

"No, but she if she chooses to bring life to that particular item, and the candlestick decides it doesn't like you, it could fly through the air and hit you in the head," Alice replied with a sassy smile.

"I swear that lipstick ran away from me!" Vivi shouted from the corner.

"And, uh, what about Vivi's..." China paused as if pondering on which words were the best to describe what she wanted to express. "Police record. We already know she has a habit of stealing. What about murder or any crimes like that?"

"Oh, she only murdered one kid! I mean, come on, it was days ago! Don't hold it against her!" Alice shrugged nonchalantly, and Tanith's eyes widened.

"I'm joking! She's just your average, insane, super-powered teenager." Alice rolled her eyes. "Okay, so if you don't have any other questions...? None? Okay, well I guess we're finished here. So where are these rooms you guys were talking about?"

"Oh, yes, your rooms. Cleavers, would you please take these two girls down to the jail cells for the night. Regrettably, we don't have anything big enough for you." China smiled and motioned for the two Cleavers at the door.

"Hey! We had a deal!" Alice yelled.

"Yes, but unfortunately - although clearly, it was on purpose - we didn't discuss the matter of your jail time. I'm sure the magic bounding cells in the tunnels of the old sanctuary near the accelerator room will do nicely. Good night, Miss Edgley." China said smugly. This was why Tanith and Ellion shared a distaste for China Sorrows. She was unfair, ridiculously stubborn, and will never let anyone play her a fool without getting her revenge.


	37. Jealousy

Alice made a run for Vivi but she froze when a cleaver's scythe pressed into her throat. She felt the pressure of the cold blade on her warm skin and didn't dare to even swallow.

"What are you doing China!" Ellion protested and Valkyrie stood up.

"This is outrageous! China, these are my sisters, even if one of them is adopted! They haven't done anything wrong!" Valkyrie screamed in outrage.

"Actually, they have. Planning assault on sanctuary agents." Skulduggery said inopportunely and quietly. "China has the right to put them in jail if she wants."

Valkyrie's mouth opened and closed like a goldfish but when she couldn't think of anything else to say she sat down and glared at her boots. The general mood of the table had changed. No one wanted to stay there anymore. Something bad would come out of how they were treating Alice and Vivi. Valkyrie mulled over what Alice had shown her. It wasn't a conversation like she had said, but it was a memory. Alice knew something and was trying to tell her.

"All of you, enough with this nonsense! They are criminals and will be treated as such until they have proved themselves worthy of our trust and we can recruit them." China barked at the solemn group at the table.

"China is right. It's the proper procedure, we can't just let them go because they are related to one of us. It'll send everyone into a spin. No one knows that anything majorly wrong is happening and we need to keep it that way. If we show how desperately we need new, powerful operatives everyone will get suspicious. The only people who know about the visions are Cassandra, Finbar and a few sanctuary agents. Not many." Skulduggery told them all, and each of them knew he was right. They just didn't want to admit it in front of Valkyrie.

"Don't let them near each other until their magic is bound," China instructed the Cleavers. The one behind Alice lowered his scythe and twisted her arm behind her back so that if she tried to get away he could snap it. She cried out in alarm at how fast the blur of grey had moved. The other Cleaver hauled Vivi off the ground in the corner. She dropped Mortice and began weeping, reaching out for him but the cleaver dragged her away with Alice. China sighed and took hold of the meeting once more.

"Well, now that they're dealt with we have other issues to attend to. Valkyrie, tomorrow Skulduggery is taking you to visit Cassandra Pharos's house so you can see the vision. Skulduggery and I are planning your next mission. You leave on Sunday next week so train if you have to. I'll give you a clue, it's going to be cold. We already have strong evidence to suggest that everything about the old legends are true. Alice and Vivi are great examples of that. There is just one problem with this theory. The Unnamed found one sphere of pure magic that had been trapped in a time-raft and frozen in time and space. When he went down there the Ancients followed him and pushed him into the raft instead and the magic was released and split into two. One of the Ancients absorbed this magic but the full potential was never released.

"This was passed down in generations getting stronger like an echo until it is eventually released by something that never happened with the other relatives, otherwise it would have been released in them instead. Never mind what that is right now, it's not important. And we already know that Alice is a direct descendant of the Ancients. The thing is, for Vivi to also have this magic, she would have to be connected to the Ancients also. For us to find out if Vivi is actually as special as we think she is we need to know if she's descended from the Ancients too. If not, she's just another one of those rare sorcerers who are born with amazing power like Skulduggery and Fletcher Renn. So I'm going to be looking into that with my elders when they get back from their breaks.

"Valkyrie, at some point in time we want to see you with your new powers. I hope that you still remember how to use them. For the next few weeks, we need everyone close together in case of emergencies, somewhere near the Sanctuary. I'm aware that Dexter and Saracen have been staying with Skulduggery. The Monster Hunters have got their own place here in Roarhaven. Tanith and Ellion are staying in an apartment in Dublin. Valkyrie, where are you going to be? You're welcome to stay with me here in the Sanctuary, I'm sure I can organize for an extra bed to be brought into my private chambers for you? Or would you rather stay with your parents?" China questioned and Valkyrie was shocked when the China Sorrows offered for her to STAY IN THE GRAND MAGE'S CHAMBERS!

"I think I'm just going to stay at Gordon's," Valkyrie answered politely.

"But you'll be by yourself." Dexter frowned and Valkyrie stared back at him.

"So what? I think I've proven that I can take care of myself. Besides, Danny is performing in Ireland for a few weeks, I'll invite him up to stay for a little bit." She shot back at him. Dexter couldn't help but scowl in jealousy at this. He didn't like the idea of someone who had been close to Valkyrie for 15 years staying in the same house as her. Especially since said friend was a boy.


	38. Down in the Dungeons

Ellion waited until China had dismissed everyone in the meeting room. He walked over to Vivi's Gizmo bear and picked it up. He made sure that he closed the light and the door of the room after he left and avoided eye contact with people as he moved briskly down the corridors and winding staircases for the old sanctuary. The new sanctuary had elevators and Ellion was dreading the walk back up. Once he was down there he could move freely without worrying who would try to stop him or ask where he was going. Tanith would undoubtedly question him on why he was so late to get back to their apartment but he could just drive by himself. He had a car (a white corvette stingray at that). He'd called it Ghost.

His footsteps echoed against the stained floors. He passed the accelerator room and the bloodstains on the ground in the corridor outside it. It was all that was left of Stephanie Edgley, the reflection. The accelerator itself had been shut down and was now sitting gathering dust like a trophy. The engineer, true to its word, had redefined its purpose and was now creating other robots. Like a clone army from Star Wars. At least that's what Gracious had called it. No one wanted to catch themselves down here at night will all the bugs, feebly flickering lights, and freezing cold, stale air. It was a cruel place to take a person. He found the chamber of cells that were lined up side by side. The word he'd use to describe this part was 'dungeons'. They'd never been used by the Sanctuary but Ellion could only imagine what the citizens of Roarhaven must have used them for before the waxworks museum was blown up.

He briefly wondered why China would want to put them down here and not upstairs in the other cells that were always used and far more pleasant than these ones. A small part of his brain suggested that it was because China obviously didn't like Alice or Vivi. But that was a silly part of him. He knew that China Sorrows always had more lethal reasons for the things she does. It was probably so no one noticed that they were even existing until they were operatives so they didn't raise any questions.

He found the two girls sitting on the floor in separate places of the same cell. Vivi was curled up in the corner and Alice was silently crying leaning her side against the bars and her back against the wall with her hands clamped tightly over her ears. There was a broken pipe dripping water on the cold floor and a swarm of moths fluttering around a buzzing, dull yellow light. One of the moths flew down near Alice and her scream pierced the darkness and quiet like a god-killer sword. Her hands were being held over her ears so firmly they were white and trembling. Ellion frowned, Alice appeared to be afraid of... of moths!


	39. Valkyrie's Question

Valkyrie Cain was on her way to the parking lot of the Sanctuary. It has been surprisingly untouched during Darquesse's raid. Either that, or they built it completely the same, but she doubted that. With China as Grand something as out of fashion and dark would have been brightened up and made more extravagant. She was on her way to the Bentley and she was thinking about what Alice showed her. It was her nightmare from the night before but longer. It started around the same but was a lot clearer and ended when a shadow came into view. But she saw the man clearly now. What was Arthur Dagan doing chasing her sister?


	40. Ellion and Alice's Talk

He stepped closer to the cell and heard Alice's sobs and pleas under her breath.

"Oh, please, please just leave me alone moths. I promise I won't hurt you, just please fly away." She repeated variations of this like a broken record but her eyes widened with embarrassment when she saw him standing there. It was quite an odd scene to behold.

"What are you doing here?" she snapped, throwing up her protective barriers and wiping her face dry, but she still tried to cover her ears with her hair.

"Are you okay?" he asked her. She was about to reply like she usually would with sarcasm but she thought this would be a perfect opportunity. Her mentor had told her to make him fall in love with her to gain their trust, so that was what she was going to do. The first step is making the other person feel guilty until they forgive you for what you've done.

"Why should I even talk to you? You claim you are the good guys but you think it's right to throw us down here? Fair enough, we aided assault on a 'Sanctuary agent', but to be fair you were going to arrest us before that anyway. And you didn't even put us in a proper jail. You put us in a torture chamber that no one has been taken to in years, no matter how terrible their crime. I saw the blood on the floor when those Cleaver guys brought us down here. Whose was it? Someone just like us, no doubt." she sobbed.

"It was Stephanie's. She was Valkyrie's reflection but she evolved into a person. She was killed there fourteen years ago by Darquesse. They couldn't get the blood out. I'm so sorry that you're down here. You're right. What we're doing is selfish. China's hiding you down here so that no one knows about you. She doesn't want anyone to worry about the end of the world. Last time that happened everything erupted into chaos and it led to another war between Sanctuaries all around the world. Almost every country has its own Sanctuary, some of the larger ones have more. The Sanctuaries rule the magic community." Ellion truly sounded upset for her. She felt slightly guilty about what she was doing but her glee that it was working was too powerful and the guilt was shifted aside.

"So why is it such a big deal with us? Why would the fact that we existed be such a problem to this war coming up?" Alice asked, sounding fed up that she was involved in something she had no clue in but was actually digging for information. If she could find out what legends they were talking about, she and Vivi could find out what they were.

"There have been visions lately. Not many people know about them, only special personnel, so you can't tell anyone what I'm telling you. These visions have been of an evil being called the Unnamed, and he takes over the world and destroys it all after a huge battle right here in Roarhaven. But in the vision, it shows you and Vivi fighting against Skulduggery and Valkyrie. So you were on the evil side-" Ellion told her and she frowned.

"Why does that mean Vivi and I are evil? That could just mean that Skulduggery and Valkyrie are on the opposite side." She suggested and it was Ellion's turn to frown.

"Valkyrie and Skulduggery would never do that, they've been fighting against the Faceless Ones for the most part of their lives."

"No, Skulduggery and Valkyrie might not. But Darquesse would. And did it actually show Skulduggery going up against Vivi and I? Or did it just show him with Valkyrie? Because that could just mean that Skulduggery was trying to help us against Darquesse." Alice shrugged, pouncing on the occasion to gain more of their trust and start up a new collection of distrust for her sister. Ellion's face went pale.

"But Darquesse is dead. We killed her fourteen years ago." He shook his head. This couldn't be true.

"Oh, okay then. Well if you actually killed her and saw her die than okay." Alice held her hands up in defeat.

"But that's the thing. We don't know if she's dead or alive. She was sent through to the Faceless One's dimension. She could have survived. It's possible. We have to tell the others." Ellion gasped and went to leave but she reached her arm through the cage and made her eyes wide.

"No! Don't leave me here alone! Please!" Alice pleaded, wanting to get more information. Really, what she was screaming out to him in her head was 'No! Don't leave without telling me more of your secrets'! But she showing someone your weakness and showing you need them but putting up a defence in front of everyone else makes them feel special. And everyone loves feeling special. She should know, it's all she had ever wanted.

"It's okay, I'll stay. We can tell them tomorrow." He nodded sympathetically and sat down next to her on the other side of the bars.

"Thanks," she muttered. She considered how she would get him to like her but he seemed like the kind of guy who just wants someone fun and honest. How ironic. So to avoid being caught out as a liar she decided to be herself as much as possible.

"Why were you crying before?" he asked her. She avoided looking at him, exaggerating her real embarrassment to make her seem 'cute'.

"It's stupid. It's just this weird fear I have that moths might fly into my ears and lay eggs." She laughed at herself, showing she could be fun and not always serious. He gave her a weird look. She lightly punched his shoulder and continued playfully. "Shut up, it's not funny! I'm serious. It happened to my Dad!"

"Yeah, from what I know of your Dad, it's a wonder I find it a surprise." He laughed along with her.

"Don't insult my Dad!" she pretended to be offended and they both grinned. "But really, one night dad came home from work and we dragged him out into the backyard because I found a huge huntsman spider on the shed door surrounded by moths. The moment he stepped on the spider a moth flew straight into his ear! He told me he could feel it fluttering its wings around in there and...ugh! It was...ugh!" Alice shuddered and her eyes flickered up to the moths buzzing around the light. This was no act. She was actually scared of them, she wasn't lying.

"Okay, that's actually really...gross. How did your Dad get the moth out?" Ellion pulled a small ball out of his pocket, tapped its surface three times and threw it at the light. All the moths dropped to the floor dead and Alice shrieked, shuffling as far away from them as possible.

"What was that!?" she gulped.

"It was a tiny bomb. It basically kills everything living around it, but it only works within a meter radius and it only works once before deactivating and someone has to activate it again.

"Well, what if you had mis-thrown it or something and it killed Vivi or me!" she tried to quiet herself down and looked at the large, hairy, silver moths in disgust.

"It wouldn't have gone anywhere near you, I'm a very accurate thrower. Plus, even if it went too low it wasn't even in an angle near either of you and it would have deactivated as soon as it hit something non-living unless I tapped it four times."

"Oh, okay. And to answer your question, we did eventually get the moth out after three days of trying to suck it out with vacuums and ear-cleaners. The doctor took it out eventually and by then it had died in there. But it could have made scary little baby moths in there! That would have been, like, attack of the moth babies!" Alice was calmed down and was able to smile again.

"It would have made an interesting end of the world case for Skulduggery to solve. I can already see it, 'people driven insane by moths reproducing in their ears'!" Ellion underlined the words with his hand in the air and spoke with a loud, deep promotor's voice.

"You, know what, we should make a movie about that!" Alice nodded approvingly at Ellion's advertisement.

"It sounds like something your uncle Gordon would write." Ellion gave a sad smile. 

"I wish I could have met him. But it's kind of like I do know him by reading his books and hearing about how he was like before he died from relatives." Alice agreed.

"I liked his work. Me and Tanith, she's my aunt, are huge fans of all his books."

"Really? I didn't pin you as the reading, nerdy type." Alice poked him with her elbow.

"What type did you pin me as?"

"More the sporty jock," Alice admitted and Ellion laughed nervously and ran his fingers through his brown hair.

"Hah! Yeah, well...no. Just...just no. I'm actually-don't hold it against me- a fanboy. I know, it's lame." Ellion's face flushed in humiliation.

"No way! Me too! Well, not a fanboy, a fangirl, because I'm obviously not of the male species." Alice stuttered and found herself actually enjoying his company. Maybe if he wasn't so blind to be on the wrong side they'd be friends. But he was foolish to trust her.


	41. Get Over Yourself

When Dexter, Saracen and Skulduggery finally made it down to the car park Dexter's heart lurched at the sight of Valkyrie Cain leaning against the doors of the Bentley with the low light making her eyes and hair look even darker making her look even more dangerous.

"What took you so long, Skull. Did you forget about me?" She asked, her hard voice filling in the empty space around them like an ever-growing echo. She obviously hadn't seen Vex or Rue behind Skulduggery because of the darkness but he could tell when she realized because the cocky grin on her face went slack and she looked sad.

"I did not forget you, but you obviously forgot that one of my rules is not to lean on my car, so please get off." Skulduggery told her without even noticing the tension between Dexter and Valkyrie. But Saracen did (and it wasn't their usual kind of tension, either).

"Alright, Skulduggery. Dexter and I will meet you at your house. I'm guessing you've got to drop Val off at Gordon's. We can ask Fletcher to drop us off before he leaves for Australia, I think he should be back from searching soon. He'll be glad to hear that we found Alice and Vivi. I think we forgot to tell him so he's been looking for ages. We'll see you soon." Saracen said with a pointed look at Skulduggery. The two men turned back and disappeared around a corner.

"Well, are we going?" Skulduggery got in the car and Valkyrie clambered into her usual seat. "So would you care to tell me what's upset you?"

"Was it really that obvious?" she sighed and tugged down her seatbelt.

"Well, considering you look like someone melted your face when you saw Saracen and Dexter were about to accompany us. And then that look that Saracen gave me was enough to tip me off. I am a wonderful detective, remember? And Saracen Rue knows things." He replied with a shrug and started the car, driving out of the car park. To some people, this might be interpreted as **'you're my best friend, of course, I'd notice'** but for Skulduggery it was more like **'I'm awesome, how could I not notice? Be impressed'**.

"I wanted to talk to you about something." Valkyrie sighed. "Am I a terrible, selfish person for not considering how other people would feel when I left?"

"What?" Skulduggery stopped driving the car abruptly and Valkyrie knocked her head into the dashboard with a grumble of 'oww'. "Where did you hear that?"

Valkyrie pondered on telling Skulduggery about what Dexter had said to her but she thought against it. Maybe she'd tell him when he calmed down so she didn't find Dexter Vex's body buried in Detective Pleasant's backyard on cemetery road. "No one important, just some random Roarhaven mage. He said that I was being really selfish again and wasn't thinking about how my actions might affect everyone else. Is it true? Did I hurt you - or anyone else - by leaving? Did I just make everything worse? Was I wrong to leave it all behind because I wasn't strong enough to deal with what I did?"

"That was your choice and that's the choice you made. The way it affects everyone else isn't your fault. It affects certain people in different ways but that all depends on them and the choices they make. You were offered a road and that was the pathway you took. It doesn't matter what you did in the past, what matters is what you're doing in the present to make the future. So really, all I have to say is... Valkyrie, don't be absurd." Skulduggery suddenly flicked her head and she winced. He was satisfied that he had delivered the proper amount of caring attitude and deep meaningful verses so he began driving again.

"Oww!" she complained and flicked him back.

"Oww." He grumbled.

"Ha! That's what you get. it's not fun, is it?" Valkyrie raised her eyebrows.

"I somehow don't think it wise to flick the driver of the car your sitting in, in the head." Skulduggery told her smugly and she just poked her tongue out at him.

"So, I didn't ruin yours or Alice's lives when I left?" she repeated her question, unsure of herself.

"No, Valkyrie. You're not that important! Get over yourself. And people say my ego's inflated." Skulduggery shook his head in mock disapproval at her and she smiled.

"Way to cheer me up, Skull." She laughed.

"Well, it worked, didn't it?" he asked her and she just laughed in response. Inside she knew that her talk with Skulduggery didn't help what she was feeling at all and she didn't know why.


	42. Alice's Realisation

"I'm serious! I spent the whole night with giant earphones, bug spray in one hand and a large boot in the other with the light on in case the moth came into my room when I was asleep! I fell asleep eventually and woke up with a snapped pair of headphones. The sacrifices we make for our ears." Alice sighed wistfully and she and Ellion laughed with each other for the twentieth time in the last five minutes.

"May your headphones rest in pieces. All of that trouble for one moth." Ellion chuckled, he found Alice's company quite enjoyable and her stories were hilarious and interesting. She looked straight at him narrowing her eyes and raising her eyebrows in a mock-serious face.

"Oh, moths are no joke! They are creepy, hairy insects that are completely underestimated. I hear that the government has begun to crossbreed them with other insects, like spiders and beetles. I predict soon, they'll breed them with innocent puppies and they will multiply like gremlins to conquer the world as we know it." She whispered, glancing to the side and pretending to check that the dead moths weren't transforming into mutations.

Ellion laughed, she liked his laugh. It made her feel happy that she could make someone like him laugh. He was so out of her league. She was the nerdy girl at school and he was the cool jock who was so much cooler because he was nice and funny and smart and had a secret job as a superhero. And yet here she was, playing barbie like he was Ken.

"Yeah, I don't think a cross bread between a moth and a dog is even possible. But I totally get what you mean about creepy, big, hairy creatures being underestimated. I mean, my uncle, for instance..." Ellion began his story and already Alice was laughing. A part of him swelled to impress her. "When I first met my uncle it was at a summer family barbeque and I was about six years old. I saw a huge, hairy bear in the pool, and I ran inside to Tanith and told her all about it. Everyone really underestimated this big bear, even though I knew it was going to kill the party."

"So I'm guessing this uncle saved the day, got rid of the bear and showed that even fat hairy old men can be helpful?" Alice nodded, predicting what had happened.

"Oh, no. Not at all. It wasn't actually a bear in the pool, it was my uncle. It was an easy mistake to make, he hadn't cut his fingernails in a few years and so they perfectly resembled the yellow claws of a bear. No, he got out of the pool and his swimming trunks fell down. Everyone who saw died that day. No one thought he could have been that dangerous." Ellion finished his story and Alice was gasping in laughter.

"I hate it when that happens; uncles having the indecency to impersonate bears is a travesty." She shook her head but then stopped and her eyes grew wide. "Oh no! I forgot Accalia locked in the shed at home!"


	43. Consequences

The young man with the turquoise eyes and the strange tattoo was waiting at the ice-cream shop for Vivi to show up at midnight telling him the tragic news of Alice's untimely death by hand - or paw - of the pet that he had given them. Vivi would join his side with no one to tell her what was right or wrong and the girl was too stupid to tell for herself. He would be free to drain Alice's body of her magic and carry out the rest of his plan. Valkyrie Cain had been warned at the requiem ball, and in another half an hour, Alice Edgley would suffer the consequences for her older sister's wrongdoings.


	44. You Have a Person in Your Shed?!

"Wait, What! You have a person locked in your shed!" Ellion stood up in alarm, suddenly wary of Alice.

"Yeah, I totally kidnapped someone, knocked them out, and kept them in my shed for no reason." Alice rolled her eyes and sarcastically yelled at him. "No, you idiot! Accalia's a wolf!"

"Okay, follow up question, if I may...You have a wolf in your shed!" Ellion stared at her in shock.

"Firstly, that wasn't even a question, it was a statement of the obvious. And secondly, yes, are you deaf?! She's been locked in there for a whole week! She'll starve!" Alice panicked and forgot about her act. She grabbed his hand through the bars and clenched them with her own. "Please, let us out, we have to get her before something terrible happens. If it hasn't already."

"I'm still a little stuck on you having a wolf in your shed!" Ellion tried to calm himself down. "We'll go now, but don't tell anyone. What kind of wolf is it?" he asked and began trying to get her out and the door rattled.

"I don't even know! But she's huge, big enough for me to ride." Alice replied, agitated that she had forgotten Accalia for so long and that it was taking Ellion ages to break her out.

"I can't open it. What are we going to do? What about Vivi?" Ellion gave up and stopped trying to open the door. Instead, he nodded towards the sleeping girl. She began sleep-talking about taking over the world and he heard her mutter ' _Mortice_ ' before her eyes snapped open and she scrambled up, bolting for the jail cell door like a lumbering crank from the Maze Runner.

"Where's my Mortice!?" her screech sounded inhumane and she clawed her hands through the bars and they clamped over his shoulders, shaking him forward into the bars and pushing him back out only to pull him back I again. A trickle of red blood slid down his face and Alice was frozen in surprise.

"Listen here buddy," Vivi spat. "If I never see my Mortice again, nobody will ever see you again!"

Ellion's brain was too shocked to comprehend what was happening. It was like his thoughts were loading but the tiny bar that flashes on the computer screen was still only at fifteen percent. Mortice. His brain was in a good enough condition to remember the creepy Gizmo bear that he had in his jacket pocket right at that moment that he had meant to give to Vivi but had gotten side-tracked talking with Alice. Alice finally broke out of her trance and leapt into action. She got her arms around Vivi, tugging her back but the shorter girl was determined not to let go without her stuffed bear and despite her weaker appearance she hung on tight and Ellion's handsome face was pressed up against the bars.

It took a long time filled with struggling and screaming but Alice managed to pry Vivi off of Ellion and the boy fell to the floor, his head pounding and vision swimming in a lake that twirled around like a carousel. Alice felt worry sweep over her and kneeled down by him. Sure, he was on the other side of this war that she knew was to come, but she was still human and she didn't want to see people hurt when they didn't need to be.

"Are you alright? I'm so sorry. But to be fair you really shouldn't have separated her from her Mortice. She loves that thing, no matter how disturbing it may be." Alice told him and kneeled down to take his arm. But she quickly realised she couldn't really do much with her being in jail and all.

"Well, that hurt." Ellion croaked and could barely lift his head when he looked around. "I don't think I can get up yet. Everything is spinning, it's like I'm on a merry-go-round."

"That's usually what it feels like when you've had your head smashed against jail bars repeatedly. Okay, I need you to stay as still as possible. I'm going to use your sword to scratch across those magic binding sigil-things. You sorcerers used them on Logan and all Saracen had to do to get rid of it was wipe away the symbol, so if I can ruin the symbol, I suppose it should stop working and cut off the flow of magic that dampens our own. I'm guessing that should work. So stay still, I don't want to separate you from any body parts, it appears you're quite attached to them." She told him, speaking slowly so he could understand her.

Ellion looked up and watched her as she pulled him closer and reached out to slide the sword from the scabbard around his hips. She maneuvered the sharp blade away from him and pointed the tip toward the symbol carved in the bar. The sword was heavy and large and felt awkward in her hands. Alice cut diagonally across it and there was a sense of freedom and reassuring power that came back to her with her magic.

Ellion studied her face. His brain was still a bit fuzzy but he could tell that she was gorgeous. This was the first time he had seen her face properly without her turning her head away in a blur or pulling faces. Her hazel eyes glittered with emerald green and chocolate brown. Her skin was glowing and smooth. Her raven hair fell in waves and tumbled in twisted curls around her face and all down her back. She wasn't perfect. No one was. She still had a few pimples and she wasn't skinny. She was mid-sized and curvy. That didn't make her any less beautiful. Ellion was one of the people who accepted that no one was perfect. He still got a few spots every now and then as well. Everyone did, except for China of course. But that was unnatural.

Alice closed her eyes and splayed her fingers, searching for the link between the atoms of the lock. She found them and when she clenched her fist shut she snapped those bonds and the door squeaked open. She hauled Vivi off the floor where she was hissing and glaring.

"Oh, now ** _I_** feel dizzy. "she commented and sat down on the floor next to Ellion, leaving Vivi to crouch behind them, murmuring conspiracies under her breath.

"Where's Mortice!" Vivi squawked and Ellion produced the beloved animal from his jacket pocket. Vivi's malicious attitude evaporated and she turned back to her cuddly, innocent self.

"Has anyone ever told you that she is really scary!" he cried out and Alice smiled, showing two dimples on each of her cheeks.

"Let me think on that for a minute, maybe..." she pretended to mull it over. "...maybe just about everyone who's ever gotten to know her," she replied but Ellion just gazed at her. "What, is there something on my face?"

"Yes, the most stunning smile ever." he grinned and she blushed, her hair falling over her eyes as she looked down in embarrassment. She knew her romance with him was meant to be fake but she couldn't help but feel special. What? She was acting, that's all. She wasn't really embarrassed. She argued with herself and pushed the thought of actually liking Ellion to the back of her mind.

"Twue Wove!" Vivi sighed from behind them and the pair looked back at her to see a dreamy expression on her face. "I had twue wove once when we went to Queensland and I fell for that triple-chocolate-midnight-cookie-ice-cream!"

"Oh! Accalia! We'd better hurry!" Alice snapped out of her daze and was about to tell Ellion to get up but the boy was already on his feet. He held out his hand to her and she took it, letting him pull her up. Remembering her mission; she didn't let go of his hand. Even when she was standing. "Vivi, let's go home please."

Vivi effortlessly opened a portal and the trio stepped through. Alice didn't notice when the container of pills her mentor had given her fell from her jacket pocket and were kicked into a dark corner of the jail corridor.


	45. The Glowing

The world on the other side of the portal was cold and grey. Thunder grumbled like a hungry old man and the lightning flashed like energy streams across the sky. Rain poured down like it was a giant's funeral and the tears were dropping to earth. Alice, Ellion and Vivi were suddenly soaked to the skin within seconds of standing out in that weather. But they shouldn't be out in the rain in the middle of the backstreets. They should have come out of the portal back at their house in the dry, warm environment. Alice looked around quizzically at Vivi for an answer as to why they ended up where they were to see her neck strained to face the sky. Her tongue was stuck out to try and catch the rain in her mouth.

Then Alice caught sight of the Ice-cream store and she needed no further answers as to why they had come out of the portal there. Alice shivered and Ellion pulled her closer to his side. She made a point of pressing against him to make him feel like she needed him. That was another thing she'd heard guys found attractive. Like she would know. She'd never had a boyfriend before. All her experience came from binge-watching T.V shows like Teen Wolf and Girl Meets World.

"Do you think you could do something about the rain?" he called to her over the storm.

She nodded and brought her hand up. She only wanted to stop the rain from hitting them but it was like her magic took over her and she had to fight hard to control it. Alice felt her vision go brighter, bringing the entire storm to a stop and the night air became warm. The clouds dissipated and the twinkling stars were visible in the midnight blue sky. She felt more alive than ever. She felt magic and power coursing through her body and it was a like a breath of fresh air before she went back to drowning in abnormality. Alice took a shaky breath and looked up at Ellion who was staring at her in wonder.

"What? I hate being wet." she shrugged.

"No, it's not that. When you used your magic flecks in your eyes started glowing gold and emerald green and your hair...it was like glittering light was scattered through it. You seriously didn't notice anything strange?" he sounded scared. She shook her head, wondering about her new experience with her magic.

She had definitely felt...refreshed when she had used her magic. But she hadn't felt her appearance change. What did they see? The young girl finding her way through an unfamiliar world that she thought she was? Or something more? Something powerful and dangerous?


	46. The 'Minor' Setback

The three found their way around the backstreets Alice had led the fat man that had attacked her and Vivi through. They reached Alice and Vivi's house and snuck around the back, clambering over the fence and into the yard. Alice turned to Ellion and Vivi who were behind her and put her finger to her lips.

"Ssh, it's better if we **_don't_** wake up the whole of Sydney," she told them so they crept through the tangles of grass and towering trees, maneuvering their way through flowerbeds and puddles to get to the shed

"So now what?" Ellion questioned, the nerves in his voice clear as the night above them.

"We'll have to find a way in. I don't have the key and we can't go through the window because it's too small, and we can't open a portal to get inside. Oh wait, we can! And we should have done that in the first place!" Alice whisper-shouted at Vivi and Ellion sarcastically.

"Ssh, Alice, you don't want to wake up the dolls or they might murder you in your sleep," Vivi said softly, pointing through the glass window to a wheelbarrow in the shed that was missing a wheel. Inside was a cluster of dolls. Each doll was broken in some way. Several were missing eyes, limbs, heads, had ripped clothes, stitched up gashes, protruding stuffing, and torn yarn hair. They gave Alice and Ellion the creeps bit Vivi looked at them lovingly as if they were her own children.

"Alright, stand back, if Vivi's not gonna help us get in there I'm going to blow the lock."

"Why can't we just walk through the open doorway?" Vivi suggested.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because it's not opened?" Alice smiled sardonically.

"You never know, it could secretly be open and the potatoes...no the eggs, the eggs are making the illusion that the door is closed. They have so many layers. The hard shell on the outside, the whites under it, and the icky yellow stuff in the middle."

"You mean the baby chicken?"

"That's what makes it so evil," Vivi whispered hoarsely and charged towards the shed door. The aluminium door shuddered I it's frame and Vivi came stumbling away.

"Damn eggs and potatoes." Vivi hissed.

"Maybe Alice should blow it." Ellion cringed.

"Maybe," Alice responded, as sassy as her older sister. She then swiped her hand, frowning in concentration and the door's lock evaporated noiselessly. They crept indoors and felt around them in the pitch black. Outside they had moonlight but in here it was even harder to see. The only light in the entire shed was shining through the window like a spotlight onto the wheelbarrow with the spine-chilling dolls. Ellion broke away from the group to try and find a light switch.

"Accalia, come here girl." Alice beckoned for her pet to come to her. Vivi immediately started whispering to the dolls. Her hissed 's' and soft 't' pronunciations made it even scarier. Like from a horror movie when the character was being tempted by ghosts. Ellion shuddered and stepped into another ray of light. This one was shining on his feet and his brown eyes followed the beam to under a table. He ducked his head down to see a large portion of the aluminium walls lying on the grass outside and a jagged-edged hole.

"Uh...Alice, Vivi, I think I know where your dog went." Ellion said shakily. This dog was apparently huge. This dog was apparently a **_wolf_**. And now it was ravenously hungry and had escaped into Sydney.

"Oh, Accalia isn't mine at all!" Vivi answered, disgusted by the very suggestion. "I'm a cat person. Not those beasts people call man's best friends."

"Where?" Alice ignored Vivi and hurried over to where he was kneeling and froze to the spot when she saw the gap in the wall. "Oh no! She's loose. She's big enough for a person to ride and evidently is strong and hungry! Who knows how long she's been gone for!" Alice cried out in distress.

  
"Judging by the fresh mud tracks, she hasn't been gone long. In fact, she was here up until sometime after you stopped the thunderstorm. That rain would have obliterated any prints. So we're looking at anything within 10 to 30 minutes away from here. She wouldn't go far. She'd just go far enough to find food and chances are she'll come back here, it's natural instinct for a wolf to stay close to its den, go out to hunt and come back. The problem is finding her. But not that we won't be able to find her. The problem is that other people will. Seeing a one-and-a-half-meter-tall wolf roaming around Sydney isn't exactly something locals would see every day. We're lucky it's night." Ellion told her and she sighed.

"Yeah, you're right. We'd better hurry up before one of the crazy kids going out to the bars on a Friday night find her. We'll follow the tracks as far as we can but we're going to have to improvise from wherever they lead us. There's a picture of her. Vivi insisted on taking a selfie even though she says she hates Accalia. I think she just loves selfies. I commend you on your detective skills by the way." Alice complemented and pointed to a small polaroid photograph lying beside an improvised dog bed of cushions and furry blankets.

Ellion looked at the picture and recognized the creature instantly. The sheer size of it was enough to raise suspicion. But it was its electric violet eyes that gave it away. "That's no wolf." Ellion breathed. "That's a Cu na Gealaí Duibhe!"


	47. The Cu na Gealaí Duibhe

"A Cu na Ga-what-what?" Alice questioned.

"It means Hound of the Black Moon in Gaelic. Kind of what you would call a hell hound. It's a magic wolf that goes crazy from midnight for one hour when the sun, moon and earth align. That must be tonight." Ellion informed her.

"But there isn't another solar or lunar eclipse for a week." Alice protested.

"Actually, you've been out cold for a week remember? It's tonight. Where did you find it? They're incredibly rare. Those things are almost extinct." he asked, appalled.

"Well, Ha...my friend. My friend gave her to me." Alice stuttered, almost telling Ellion her mentor's name.

"You mean the mystery man? _**He**_ gave her to you? He's a sorcerer, he should know about it. Especially after what happened with the Grotesquery around twenty years ago." Ellion frowned.

"That doesn't matter now. So how do we stop her from going crazy?" Alice asked him, changing the subject.

"We can't, the only thing we can do is to contain her until one in the morning when the savagery wears off."

"So what are we waiting for, let's go!" Alice prompted him and the two crawled through the hole Accalia had escaped from. Well, not really crawl, they just had to bend down she was that big.

"Vivi, come on!" Alice called to her sister who was still whispering to her dolls. Vivi hurried after them after saying goodbye and Alice swore she saw one of the doll's head's tilt to look at where they were going.


	48. Caught On a Line

A steady stream of people flowed from the street screaming in terror. A car soared through the air and smashed into the side of the large night club. Glass rained down over the street and Ellion pulled Alice and Vivi behind an abandoned truck. The trio pressed their backs against it and tried to catch their breath. They had run as soon as they heard the commotion from a few blocks away. The trio pressed their backs against it and tried to catch their breath. They had run as soon as they heard the commotion from a few blocks away.

"What are the chances that this is the work of someone else's magic-wolf gone rouge and Accalia is just around the corner eating an ice-cream cart?" Ellion shouted over the loud smashing noises.

"I don't know, how about you walk on over there and check?" responded with her usual level of sarcasm but her voice sounded shaky and scared. She clearly hadn't done anything like this before. "Vivi, let's go get her, okay? Put your week of training to some use."

"Yay, killing people!" she squealed in her baby voice, smiling happily.

"No. No killing people. We're going to **_stop Accalia_** **_from killing people._** Ellion, I think it's best if you stay here. We don't want one of your pompous 'Sanctuary agents' to get hurt. We don't need anything else for your precious Grand Mage Sorrows to throw us in jail for." Alice said bitterly. At this point, she'd forgotten all about her mission to make him fall in love with her.

Vivi stood a little further to their right out of their sight and pulled a giant fishing rod with symbols engraved on the pole out of a portal. She tried to cast it at a nearby ice-cream truck but it soared way over and disappeared down the other end of the street.

"I'm the one who's had all this training and I know much more than you two about these types of things," Ellion replied forcefully. "I'm going whether you like it or not."

"That may be true, but she's my wolf and you might hurt her." Alice shot back at Ellion.

"Hurt her! Do you think that's even possible? To hurt a hell hound during a solar or lunar eclipse is impossible!" he gawked at her.

"Guys! I think I caught something!" Vivi called to them but the two ignored her to continue their squabbling.

"Not now, Vivi! Just because she's dangerous and big it does not mean that she can't be hurt." Alice took a step towards Ellion with detestation in her eyes.

"That's gonna be a good fish!" Vivi's fishing line went taut and she tugged at whatever was caught on the other end. "See, this is how you fish on dry land. Watch and learn kids!"

"That's not what I meant! And it is actually known fact that a hound of the black moon is almost impossible to hurt during one hour whilst the lunar or solar eclipse is occurring. I'm saying that she is a magical creature and she needs to be properly contained by someone who has experience." Ellion completely ignored Vivi and her claims to have caught something.

"Yeah, and I'm sure you have lots of experience killing off endangered species. Or maybe you threw them in a cell too?" Alice crossed her arms and tapped her fingers on her elbows impatiently. She was very stubborn and didn't let go of things easily. Vivi's line began getting harder to reel in but she was managing it, somehow. The rod had sigils on it though and that was probably why.

"Look, it's not like us standing here arguing is doing anything to help this situation! She's not going to just come right to us!" Ellion's response to this was a low guttural growl and a giant trickle of slobber drooped onto his jacket. He looked up in alarm to be greeted by the sight of a huge Cu na Gealaí Duibhe standing on its hind legs with a fishing line hooked to the collar around its neck.


	49. The Job Calls

The hologram hovering over the glass table in the debriefing room showed news reporters and footage of a smoking street with cars reduced to smashed lumps of metal and shards of glass covering the cracked road. Buildings had begun crumbling, with gaping holes in the sides of them and people were crowding around the police tape to get a glimpse of what had caused the damage. They saw Philomena Random and Geoffrey Scrutinous speaking to the mortal police and China turned it off with an aggravated sigh.

"This is an outrage!" China Sorrows bellowed and Ellion flinched. "You let two prisoners escape, flee with them to chase a HELL HOUND in the middle of a street in Sydney! Not that it looks like a street anymore!"

"Grand Mage Sorrows, with all due respect it wasn't his fault. They went after the hell-hound to contain it before it was too late. If they hadn't have gone after it, it would have moved on and we'd have more on our hands to cover up." Tanith Low injected as much cold displeasure into her voice as possible. She was especially protective and defensive over her nephew.

"Did I ask for your opinion, Miss Low?!"

"No, you did not, **_your highness_**. Did anyone vote you Grand Mage, Miss Sorrows?" Tanith glowered. The quarrelling between her and China had reached its all-time high of late. In fact, Tanith had been generally an emotional wreck lately. Spontaneously breaking into sobs, yelling, violence, overly appreciative or protective are all outbursts that had been popular recently. China retained her composure but it was clear that inside she was a volcano waiting to burst. But Tanith was a loose cannon. Skulduggery decided it was best to step in.

"China is doing a reasonable job as Grand Mage, and Ophelia Wisp and Sapphire Wildfire are doing fine jobs as elders." He interrupted.

"Who are Ophelia Wisp and Sapphire Wildfire?" Valkyrie asked, sounding groggy. Her hair was in a messy bun and she was dressed in black sweatpants and an oversized grey jumper that said Doughnut wake me up with a picture of a chocolate-covered, rainbow sprinkle doughnut. It was obvious she had been woken up at two in the morning and had to drive all the way back to Roarhaven just as the others judging by the assorted pyjama outfits all the Dead Men were in. The monster hunters had shown up as well.

"You'll meet them soon enough. They stepped in as elders about two years ago after the last two elders turned out to be associates of Eliza Scorn and tried to assassinate China. Again. But they're on their break and they'll be coming back soon." Saracen told her. She nodded sleepily, she had no energy to ask about the previous elders and what happened to them.

"Look, just leave him alone, it was our fault. Punish us, not him. I'm sure it won't be that hard after you've proved how much you detest people who could change the balance of the world." Alice spoke up and China took a deep breath.

"I don't detest you, child. You committed a crime. You almost killed Valkyrie Cain. And I actually like Valkyrie Cain. She is like the daughter I never had. I was intensely worried when I found out that she wasn't waking up. I hate worrying. It gives us terrible lines on our foreheads. It's simply a labour I could bear without. No one is going to be punished." China surprised everyone with this revelation. "Accalia is going to be trained as a guard dog of sorts (as much as we can train a hellhound, anyway). You'll get her back by the end of next week. Just promise me that next time you find a giant Cu na Gealaí Duibhe, you'll try not to let her go missing on the one night she turns into the destructor-extraordinaire. Philomena and Geoffrey will be working double-time to cover this up. Luckily it happened outside a nightclub and almost everyone who saw Accalia was intoxicated. We can blame it on a gas leak explosion or something. Get some sleep. You all need to be rested and wake up bright and early tomorrow morning. We're going out to breakfast here in Roarhaven. And hopefully, we don't make as much of a mess of the restaurant as you did with Skulduggery's kitchen yesterday. Alice, Vivi, tomorrow your training begins."


	50. Day 1; Midnight

The young man still waited at the corner ice-cream shop for Vivi to show up telling him that Alice had been killed. He had made sure that the new pills he gave Alice contained a herb that acted as an aggravator of sorts for the hell-hound so he would target her instead of Vivi and he'd still have the teenage psychopath on his side as his secret weapon. If Vivi had a quarter of the brains Alice had she'd be a threat to him. But she didn't and so she was the perfect puppet. When Vivi didn't show up he knew that his plan had failed. China had probably thrown them in jail as soon as she laid eyes on them. He should have known better than to base his plot around such an unpredictable person as China Sorrows. It didn't bother him too much. A replacement plan had already started hatching in his brain. Alice would be dead soon either way and his plan would be back on track. His inside source had told him of a mission that would take place in a week and two days' time. He'd be ready.


	51. Day 1; 6:00 A.M

The next morning Alice was the first to wake. It was hard for her to sleep on the cold and hard floor of the old sanctuary jail cells. Vivi was curled up with Mortice clutched to her chest. Alice stared out the bars and thoughts whirled around her mind like a tornado. She thought of her mentor and his lovely golden hair and dazzling smile with his perfectly sculpted face and tall figure. Could he have given her the hell hound right before the solar eclipse on purpose? That would mean he had tried to kill her. But he had no reason to try and kill her. On the other hand, he was very particular about her and Vivi going to take care of Accalia that night. But Alice didn't want to believe that her crush was trying to murder her. No, he mustn't have known about the hound of the black moon.

She and Vivi were meant to meet him that night. They couldn't. Alice was worried. She couldn't find her medicine and didn't know where she had lost it. It could have fallen out of her pocket at the ice-cream shop, the meeting room, their shed, the backstreets of their home suburb in Australia, outside the club in Sydney or in the other jail cell that has to be fixed and cleaned that afternoon. Her pills could be in an array of places and she could visit none of them. The sound of footsteps on the concrete floor jerked her from her thoughts and at first she thought it was her mentor, but no. Those were Ellion's footsteps.

"Hey, you aren't asleep?" he asked her and she inwardly rolled her eyes. Of course, she wasn't asleep if she was awake, dumbo. But she forced a small smile onto her face that she was morphing into a sad expression.

"No. Neither are you," she replied. "It's too cold and empty down here."

"At least the moths are gone," Ellion told her, trying to be positive and she laughed, rubbing her hands up and down her arms to show him she was cold.

"At least there's that." She kept her answers short. He sat down next to her and took off his jacket, putting it around her shoulders. "Thanks." She pulled it tighter around her and left her hand on the floor near him at an angle that would be easier for him to hold.

"I really am sorry about all this." He whispered sincerely.

'You are **now** ,' Alice said in her head, knowing that if he ever found out that she had been acting to make him fall in love with her so she could use him for information he'd leave her side in an instant. That shouldn't bother her. He was the enemy. But she found it refreshing to have a friend other than Vivi, even if she had just been pretending. For or the first time her heart was begging to question her mentor repeatedly. But she felt obliged to do what he had told her to. It was like she couldn't disobey even if she'd wanted to.

"Can we talk about something else please?"

"Like?" Ellion prompted and Alice rolled her eyes to cover the fact that she really was only interested in him telling her things that she could go back and tell her mentor so he would like her better. **_Okay Alice_** , she told herself ** _, think about what your character would talk about with him._**

"You know, stuff about you. What you like and what you don't. Your dreams, your fears. Your favourite ice-cream flavour." she joked. She figured that if she knew more about what kind of person he was she could make herself more appealing to him.

"Okay, well, I like soccer and I don't like being unjust. I've always wanted to save the world and help people like my aunt. She's my role model, my mother-figure after my mum passed away, my friend, my partner in crime...she's the person I admire the most in the world. But I'm scared of not being good enough, of letting her down." Ellion told her truthfully. Strange, that's kind of how she felt about her older sister, except because she knew she'd never be able to impress her or make her proud, she detested her.

"Okay, but you missed the most important question. What's your favourite ice-cream flavour? Think fast! It's life or death." Alice's voice was now full of life

"Now you sound like Vivi." Ellion chuckled and Alice pretended to be mock-hurt by the comment. "My favourite flavour is actually cookies and cream."

"Oh no! I'm sorry. The correct answer is either chocolate, double chocolate or triple chocolate. This relationship cannot continue." Alice held her hand up to him and turned her head the other way. He grabbed her hand and pulled it back down, laughing.

"So what about you, mystery girl? What are your interests and favourite ice-cream flavours? I'm guessing chocolate." He asked her and she snorted.

"Mystery girl? Uh, no. Just no. There's nothing mysterious about me. I'm just your plain everyday girl." She shook her head.

"You're not just any other plain girl. You're different from the others. You act all tough and sarcastic but you don't mean it. It's not who you are. Behind the act of being arrogant and self-assured, there's a whole other person." He told her and she was quiet.

"Well, if you know me so well then who is the person behind the curtain? Because I'm still trying to find her as well." Alice replied. This time no act. No filter. No character. Just Alison Edgley talking. And to Ellion it was the best thing he's ever heard come out of her mouth. It seemed he was falling for the real Alice and not just some person she was pretending to be.

"I'm still trying to find her too. Maybe we can search for her together?" he took her hand in his and she felt butterflies in her stomach. She blushed and looked down, smiling to herself.

"I'd like that." She giggled softly. Her heart felt warm and fuzzy and there was the reassuring pressure of his hand holding hers.

"Have you found any clues leading to who this mystery girl is?" he questioned and she thought for a minute. What was she sure about herself? No lies. No more acting.

"Well, I love Greek mythology, Greek food, Greek dancing and Greek music, since I lived in Greece for a while I kinda picked it up. I enjoy filling my time with reading, singing, listening to music, dancing terribly in my room with no one watching, art, particularly sketching and even though I've only ever been five times, snorkelling. The under-water-world has always fascinated me. I'm scared of moths as you know, bugs in general, heights, small spaces and being alone. I hate being underappreciated or misunderstood. I dream to become an author like my Uncle Gordon. I'm terrified of being a disappointment to my parents because they have such an amazing daughter as Valkyrie Cain and I'll never live up to her. And my favourite ice-cream flavour is chocolate." Alice spoke honestly.

"No way! You're lying." Ellion exclaimed.

"Okay, you got me. I lied. My favourite ice-cream flavour is Reese's Nutella-peanut-butter." Alice sighed.

"No. Not that. You're scared that your parents will choose Valkyrie over you?" Ellion inspected her face. Alice's good mood dissolved.

"Oh, that." She said quietly.

"Why?"

"Because everyone loves her! And everyone threw **_me_** in jail. She has so many friends. All Vivi and I have is each other. My own mother picks her over me. She's perfect. She's skinny, which I am not. She's strong, which I am not. She's smart, at least I have somewhat of a brain. She's gorgeous, funny, dangerous, capable of taking care of herself, basically everything that I'm not and everything a guy could ever want. I'm just an average-sized, plain girl who has nothing really special or attractive about her other than the obsession over books series and T.V shows and an unhealthy love for chocolate!" Alice burst out in anger.

"I think I've found a piece of our mystery girl puzzle. You have very low self-esteem and you care about what other people think of you more than what you think of yourself. But you know, Valkyrie isn't perfect. Far from it. She's arrogant, a little bit selfish at times, and overly stubborn. But there isn't anything about her that's wrong. That's just who she is. Her good points cancel that out. No one is perfect. She's realized her flaws over the years and has made herself a much better person. Plus, not all boys go for her type of girl. Softies like Fletcher and me would never be able to handle her, she'd walk all over us. Although Fletcher seems to go for the girl's way too hard to catch. For him, Valkyrie's like the fish that got away. Always the hardest to catch but he's not going to stop trying until he's found something even bigger. I think he likes a challenge. And guys like Caelen, a vampire she cheated on Fletcher with, are too obsessive and want too much control in the relationship and she'd never let that happen. He made her think she deserved the world and that made her a lot worse of a person but then she killed him because he wanted to force her to marry him at sixteen.

"I'm an observer. I see how people are and I can see far past what they see of themselves. And I have observed that Valkyrie Cain needs the kind of guy to be strong enough to take her on but she needs to have respect for him and she needs him to treat her right but not spoil her. She needs someone who has something more important than her going on so she knows that she has to try to make the relationship work and so she doesn't take it for granted. She's decided on what she wants to do with the rest of her life so someone who doesn't need her number one priority to be him would be perfect for her. That's where she and Fletcher went wrong. He was perfectly happy doing whatever she wanted because he was devoted to their relationship but she wasn't and he didn't like that she had things she was more devoted to than him. Especially Skulduggery and her job because he knew that if Skulduggery told her she should, she'd break up with him. Because he wasn't the type for her. She needs to fall in love with someone for the relationship to work. Because Valkyrie's job is so important she needs to have something so strong it'll outshine the doom of the world.

"You are different from her. You need a different kind of guy. I haven't quite figured out what yet. You're a very confusing girl... but guys like that. Guys like having to work to find a person that they can see before anyone else." Ellion described to her.

"Well, thank you for the boy advice but I have two sisters to help me with all that and I predict your aunt and I may become great friends. I respect the way she protected my dignity yesterday with the Dexter fiasco." Alice blushed.

"Well, it seems that Edgley girls have a thing for Dexter Vex. Apparently, Valkyrie's been chasing him since she was sixteen." Ellion's voice was tinted with jealousy and bitterness that he failed to hide with humour.

"Yeah, I think they'd be great together. But they're in a bit of a situation right now. He told her the truth and she didn't want to hear it. **I** was merely commenting on his physique, and to be honest no girl could say that she doesn't find him attractive. But I don't like him in **_that_** way. He's not my type. And I'm definitely not his. I like the quiet, sentimental, romantic guys that I can relate to." She responded and looked straight into Ellion's eyes. He seemed to get the message and his face went red.

"Well, that's good because we wouldn't want you and Valkyrie fighting over your parents, job, and a boy. It'd be the demise of Roarhaven." Ellion laughed.

"Well, thanks for talking to me but you're going to have to leave now," Alice told him with a straight face. He looked over at her, shocked at her deadly-serious mannerisms. "I told you. This relationship cannot continue until I have shoved enough chocolate ice-cream down your throat that it becomes your favourite ice-cream flavour. Then we can talk."

"Okay, deal. But you have to read Harry Potter. I'm a huge potter-head and I'd be ashamed to be seen in public with a person who hasn't read the books." He laid down his conditions and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Already done. I'm a giant Harry Potter fan too. So, you're a fanboy, huh?" Alice smiled at him playfully. "Fanboys are cute." They both laughed. She felt ridiculous saying it. She'd never been the forward confident type. But with Ellion she felt like she could say something she meant but turn it into a joke and laugh at herself without being judged.


	52. Day 1; 8:00 A.M

They wore tight leather jumpsuits with knee-high boots and various straps for various weapons. Their hair was slicked back in ponytails. Alice and Vivi walked into the training centre, pushing open the double doors with a loud slam and taking long strides with their hair and hips swinging. They looked awesome. Like a cool scene out of a cool movie. At least Alice thought they looked awesome. She turned her head to flick her ponytail from her shoulder for effect but ended up tripping over Vivi and falling to the ground with a yelp. Now they most definitely **_didn't_** look cool. The two teens groaned in a tangled heap on the floor. Ellion came into Alice's view and he helped her up with a grin.

"You dork." He snorted in laughter. She glared and that made him laugh harder.

"Listen up, newbies!" a loud, confident female voice boomed sharply from behind them. Alice had to resist the urge to roll her eyes and turned to face her older sister and help up Vivi. Ellion gave her a wink before he left, he had walked her down from where they all had breakfast at the small shop around the corner. She didn't know he'd stayed while she and Vivi were getting changed into protective clothing in case.

"This week you will be trained by a bunch of sanctuary officials from all over the world!" Valkyrie yelled as if they were at an army boot-camp. "Each day you will be trained in something new. You will work hard during all of today, Saturday, all of Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and next Saturday. You will have a day's break on Monday and Friday. Next Sunday you will be tested and scored. If you pass you will accompany us on a mission. If you survive you'll be hired as an official sanctuary agent and all previous crimes and charges will be dropped. Fail, and your life will become a living hell. Meet your teacher for today. This is Myosotis Terra. She will be teaching you mixed martial arts, boxing, wrestling and street fighting."

Valkyrie gestured behind her and a small, pretty girl looking to be in her twenties with long wavy blonde hair and green eyes stepped forward. She had glasses and Alice wondered how she could fight with them on.

"Hello, I taught Valkyrie when she was around your age. Now it will be a pleasure to teach her sisters. One thing, both of you must wear these bracelets until the end of our training together or you won't remember me. It is my power, or should I say curse, that whenever someone loses sight of me I am instantaneously forgotten. All memories of my existence are erased until they are resurfaced when the person sees me again. The only way to remember me when I'm not in sight is by having an object that belongs to me." Myosotis spoke in a kind voice, but assertively. She passed both of the girls similar bracelets and Vivi's eyes teared up, sniffling and looking like she was about to cry. Immediately knowing what was wrong, Alice swapped her neon pink bracelet for the black one Vivi had been given. The long-haired girl smiled and mewed like a happy cat.

"Tomorrow you will have a new teacher and a new subject. The same goes for the next day, and the next for a whole week until you have finished your brief training. Do your best and have fun in Hades' house." Valkyrie finished and walked past them on her way out. She whispered to Alice discretely. "Good luck, sis. I know you can do it. You're an Edgley after all."

Alice didn't reply and ignored Valkyrie. She wanted nothing to do with her older sister. Just as her older sister wanted nothing to do with her for seventeen years.

"So, let your training commence!" Myosotis cheered.


	53. Day 1; 11:30 A.M

Alice fell to the floor in a moaning pile and didn't get up. Her arms and face were smattered with bruises, things of yellow and purple and black. At least Alice had a reasonable excuse for Myosotis kicking her around like a soccer ball. So she really wished that Myosotis had been the one throwing her this way, that way and the other like dirt instead of Vivi. That was just embarrassing. Frail-looking, weak little Vivi was throwing strong, big-boned Alice around the training centre as if she was a doll being attacked by a dog. But then again, Alice had always been horrible with PDHPE in school.

"Can we please stop beating me up?" Alice croaked.

"No, not until four-thirty this afternoon. Come on Alice, you're Valkyrie Cain's sister, you share the same blood. The blood of the Ancients. You're better than this!" Myosotis repeated a variation of what she had said previously about seven times. She thought that it was motivating but it just made her want to give up. How could she live up to all this greatness? Alice's rage boiled in her veins and she forced herself to get up. She didn't even know why she was bothering with this.

"So all I have to do is knock her out of the circle and I win?" Alice asked, panting and dripping with sweat.

"Yep, that's it. She's beating you twenty-four to none! Get your act together, Edgley!"

Alice looked at Vivi who was growling like a tiger on the edge of the circle. "I'm sorry Vivi. I just really want this to be over." she apologized in advance and winced as she pulled back her arm and launched her fist into Vivi's shoulder. As she had properly calculated, the force spun Vivi backward and she twisted, having no other option but to fall on her side, jamming her shoulder on the way down. Straight out of the circle.

"Well done Alice! I knew you had it in you! But wow! What a power punch!" Myosotis complimented her and came over to Vivi's side. The girl was whimpering and crying on the floor, whinging for someone to bring her Mortice.

"I think her shoulder is dislocated or broken. I'll take her to the medical wing. Take a lunch break while I'm gone." The blonde instructed her and Alice obeyed for once without question.

Relief flooded her body as she collapsed down onto the floor, her chest heaving with breath and her muscles aching. Alice would be worried about Vivi if it weren't for the fact that Vivi had sent her to the medical wing four times already with fractures, breaks, and pulled ligaments. Her knee, elbow, finger, and ankle were still all sore but they were good enough to be able to move. So Alice was grateful for a break. They had been working and training non-stop all day since they came back from breakfast. The door opened and in came a rush of cool air.

"Are you back already Myosotis? I have to admit, I'd hoped you'd take longer than that." Alice said truthfully, but the voice that answered her was not Myosotis.

"You look terrible, Alice." Valkyrie Cain sat down next to her younger sister and Alice sighed, sitting up and wincing at the wave of pain her muscles sent her a complaint about her movement. Valkyrie must have just come back from a lunch gathering or something because she was holding two takeaway containers with Chinese food.

"What do you want? I'm tired, hurting, hungry, thirsty and I want chocolate and for Newt from the Maze Runner to marry me. I feel dirty and I need a long, warm bath with a tub of chocolate ice-cream in one hand and a bowl of chocolate-covered cake in the other. I'm not in the mood for someone else telling me how much I have to live up to, thank you very much. Nice of you to visit, don't come back again soon. Or anytime at all. I don't like you." Alice narrowed her eyes and addressed her sister coldly.

"Come on Alice. You don't think I got where I did by eating chocolate, do you? I went through as much pain and hard work as you are now. If not, harder. But it's really worth it. You just need to picture your goal and strive for it. My first goal was to have arms like Tanith's and I achieved that. Then I moved onto other goals. Like saving the world from apocalypses and stuff. You need to let it drive you. Picture yourself older, a sanctuary agent, saved the world many times, a respected hero, no one wanting to cross you because you're so dangerous. It'll work. You can do it. I believe in you." Valkyrie urged her sister. She tried to ignore the fact Alice told her she didn't like her and to go away.

A part of Alice swelled at the thought that her older sister believed in her. But that was a tiny part. Tiny and insignificant. By the sound of things, Valkyrie and everyone else wanted her to be exactly like detective Cain, the hero, the perfect daughter, the best friend, the gorgeous girlfriend. She knew she could never be as good as her sister at all of those things. She didn't respond. She hated it when people assumed things about her.

"You do need a shower though." Valkyrie laughed and gave her sister a playful push. Alice flinched at the very contact.

"Look, Alice, I know it's hard for you to understand why I left you, but I needed to. I couldn't handle it. I can't tell you why, but I did something horrible-" Valkyrie began.

"I know what you did. I know that you killed me. I know why you did it. I know you had to defeat Darquesse who was the evil deity inside of you. I don't care. I want you to leave me alone. You left me behind. You abandoned me. I'm not your sister anymore." Alice snapped Valkyrie fell silent and Alice didn't care about the tears that filled her sister's eyes.

All Alice was thinking about was her growing anger at everyone. Why did everyone compare her to Valkyrie? Why did everyone think Alice was supposed to be a certain way because of her relation to 'the Valkyrie Cain'? Except for Ellion. Alice found her heart-warming at the thought of the boy.

"I brought you lunch. It's kinds early for it but you did say you were hungry. I guess I'll just leave you to eat it then. Uh...bye." Valkyrie hurriedly dropped the containers of Mongolian lamb and boiled rice into Alice's lap and walked out. 


	54. Day 1; 11:35 A.M

Valkyrie ran from the training room, her head stooped low as she wiped her tears from her eyes to avoid being seen. She turned into the next corridor and ran into something tall. This something caught her wrists and stopped them both from falling.

"I would have thought that as a self-respecting detective you would have the common sense to observe your surroundings." The voice like velvet said and she was brought face to face with the person she didn't want to see the least. She didn't want Skulduggery Pleasant to see her like this. She was going to look for Tanith Low. When Skulduggery saw her tear-stained face and her red eyes she felt his body become rigid.

"Valkyrie. What's wrong?" he asked her. His voice that was previously chirpy and full of humour was now sympathetic.

"Skulduggery, what have I done? Alice hates me. She wants nothing to do with me. Dexter said it himself, I ruined her life when I left. He told me how mum and dad missed me so much that they wanted Alice to be another me. But she wasn't, so she never felt like she was part of the family. Now that she's found out that I'm the reason why she's had to feel that for so long and she hates me." Valkyrie sniffed and cried harder. Skulduggery pulled her into a hug and patted her back. She cried into his jacket and he was quiet.

His arms around her weren't warm but she didn't mind. He was as comforting as her father was back when she was a little girl and he let her sleep cuddled up with him when she got scared at night. And Valkyrie realized, Skulduggery was as much of her dad as Desmond Edgley was. And that was all she needed right now. When she had calmed down she pulled back and wiped her face.

"Did you say Dexter told you all that?" Skulduggery asked her gravely.

"Yeah, but he's right. I mean, a part of me knew that. I just didn't want to believe it." Valkyrie tried to stop her voice from betraying her broken heart. The fact that Dexter Vex told her that pierced her guard like a thousand daggers.

"I think that I need to have a little...talk with our dear friend Dexter Vex." Skulduggery suddenly walked off. Only one thing was on his mind and Dexter Vex had the undivided attention of his anger.


	55. Day 1; 11:40 A.M

Valkyrie moved quickly down the hallway to try and stop Skulduggery from hurting Dexter. Sure, he had upset her but he didn't deserve to die a painful death by the hand of Skulduggery Pleasant. She knew that it could quite possibly come to that. As she walked past a young man with ridiculous hair intersected her path and pulled her into an empty room filled with a bunch of old items gathering dust. Valkyrie recognized this to be what had come of the private gym Ghastly Bespoke had used when he was an elder. The painful memory arose of her and Skulduggery walking in here sixteen years earlier to see him mercilessly pounding at boxing bags one after the other because they were 'mocking his choice of friends' as he had put it. Ghastly's boxing bags remained hanging up on the ceiling rails and his gloves were laid roughly on a table next to an old yellow-stained towel.

"Fletcher, why did you bring me here?" Valkyrie asked him, trying to ignore the fact that she felt they were intruding in a dead person's peaceful place.

"Because you're upset and you need to talk to someone about it. I know your ideal port-of-call would be Tanith but she's disappeared again. So I'm afraid I'm your next option, since Skulduggery has gone to do what I'm assuming is killing Dexter Vex. You like him, don't you? Dexter? You can say what you want but I can see the way you look at him. You used to look at me like that too." Fletcher told her and shoved his hands into the pockets of his army jacket.

"I'm not sure what I feel anymore. Now that I know he and probably everyone else knows those things that he said to me are true, because they are and I know that too, it's really woken me up from the dream that I've created for myself in the past fourteen years. I thought I could just punish myself by cutting myself off and it would be enough to get rid of that guilt. But it was never going to work. So many have tried that and it never works. I don't know whether I do like Dexter anymore, he really hurt me." Valkyrie sighed.

She felt so confused and helpless and she wanted someone to be there to hold her close at night when the nightmares came like they did every night. Someone to tell her that she was amazing and made her feel like she was never alone. Someone who made her laugh, just as Fletcher used to.

"Well, I understand perfectly. I thought I loved you and then for a little while after we split I was confused just like you are. I didn't know whether I still liked you or not after what you told me. Then I met someone, new and moved on. Maybe you need to do the same." Fletcher shrugged like he'd been thinking about this or a long time.

"Yeah, I guess. But how do I do that?" Valkyrie ran her fingers through her hair and Fletcher shifted on his feet.

"Easy. Someone asks you out. Unless you really don't like them, you say yes and do your best with the relationship." Fletcher instructed her. She pondered it for a moment. Dexter's face swam into her mind and she felt warm and fuzzy but then his words accompanied it and her heart froze over.

**_...you don't know her either. You left her. You left your parents, you left Alice, you left Skulduggery and you left me! You don't know her anymore, Cain, and she doesn't know you!..._ **

**_...You were too self-obsessed that you didn't think about how anyone else felt. All you thought about was what you did. What you need to suffer for. Not how other people would suffer because of your actions!..._ **

She didn't want to be hurt. So she reluctantly nodded and agreed. She needed to move on before she fell any deeper and Dexter wasn't there to catch her.

"Okay. So Val, do you want to be my girlfriend again?" Fletcher asked with hesitation. Valkyrie blinked. ****

"I'm sorry, what?" she was stunned.

"Val, I know I said some things, but you said some things too. We were young and in our first relationships ever. We ended because of your bad boy phase, but that's over now. We can just try it out, see if it works and if it doesn't then we can deal with that then." Fletcher tried to convince her. Valkyrie got over the original shock and remembered what it was like to have someone love her. She missed that. Now that so many other things in her life had fallen apart she needed that feeling even more. So she took a trip down memory lane and smashed her lips into his and they fell onto the floor.

"I think I need some practice." Valkyrie re-enacted their first kiss and the moment that they'd first gotten together.

"I'd be happy to refresh your memory." Fletcher grinned and Valkyrie felt content.


	56. Day 1; 11:40 A.M

Dexter Vex was walking around the Sanctuary trying to find where on earth Valkyrie had gotten to. He couldn't stand her being upset or mad at him and even though she didn't really show it around him, he could tell she was hurt and he needed her to be okay. He'd been a jerk to her. Besides, he needed to tell her something. It was something he'd been pondering on for a while and he had made up his mind that night.

"Dexter!" someone called his name, but the voice didn't belong to Valkyrie so he turned and opened his mouth to tell whoever it was that he was busy and unless it was urgent he didn't have time. Valkyrie came first right now.

But when he turned he was greeted with a black-leather-gloved fist launching at his face. He felt the impact of such a force on his nose and pain shot across his face. Warm blood gushed out from his nose and it was bent at an unnatural angle. Dexter didn't need a doctor to tell him it was badly broken.

"Skulduggery! What the hell!" Dexter shouted out and peered through his watery eyes with blurred vision to see Skulduggery standing there in front of him. He was standing very still and rigid, Dexter knew much more was coming.

Vivi was waiting for her arm to be healed in the magic mud in the medical wing and had stopped asking nonsense questions to the doctors long enough to see the fight between the two Dead Men. She glanced around her to the long line up of people who were waiting for their job interviews as the new assistant for Doctor Synecdoche. Some were already Sanctuary agents, Vivi recognized one. Steven Cryer or something like that. A mischievous plan hatched in her mind. Besides, she loved ice-cream.


	57. Day 1; 11:41 A.M

When Myosotis had finally come back from the medical wing Alice had finished half the food her sister had brought her and had dumped the other half in the bin. Her sister had probably poisoned it or something.

"Alice, we need to talk. If you continue with this, you're not going to pass. What's the problem? Why aren't you doing well?" Myosotis asked in her German accent.

"Why does there have to be a reason? Why can't I just be bad at it?" Alice questioned. It was obvious through her voice she was angry and annoyed but this didn't stop Myosotis from pressing her for answers.

"Look, I get that coming in here and being the youngest and being taught all these new things, being shown that the world isn't what you thought it was must be hard. It's a tough thing to get used to. Especially since you're probably going to be seeing things or passing places you would normally see or pass every day but it's so much more than you first thought. But you really need to step it up a notch. Or a lot of notches." Myosotis nodded and Alice rolled her eyes.

Typical. She wasn't doing well enough. Something she had heard every day of her life. She just expected to hear her older sister's name followed by something amazing she had done and...

"Valkyrie had taken on Faceless Ones, insane sorcerers, dark magical creatures, twisted theorists and so much more by your age."

...and there it was...

"What is it going to take to get you to want this? Valkyrie-" Myosotis began again but Alice stood up and stormed over to the test dummy.

"I'm not good at this stuff!" she roared and aimed her anger in a punch at the dummy's head, which promptly snapped back from the force. "And I'm not Valkyrie!" Alice slammed her flat palm against the air and sent the test dummy reeling across the room and crashing through a bunch of other equipment.

"That was great! Now all you need to do is channel that power into your fighting." Myosotis instructed her and Alice closed her eyes, taking deep breaths to calm her fury. She felt that something big was coming on. Then a sudden wave of pure hatred and anger and...evil, took over her magic and she felt something inside her take control of her movements. She spun around.

"I'M. NOT. VALKYRIE!" she repeated firmly, but her voice came out sounding like hundreds of her were speaking at the same time. Alice swung her arm and Myosotis was flung into the wall and cried out before lying still in a heap on the floor.

She waltzed out of the training centre with the intention to burn the Sanctuary down. As she was exiting the room, Alice didn't notice her reflection in the window showing her with luminous eyes and hair just as Ellion had described when she had stopped the storm. These people were really starting to annoy her.


	58. Day 1; 11:50 A.M

"Fifty dollars on Skulduggery Pleasant for the knockout!" Vivi called out to the crowd of trainee doctors.

"I bet a hundred on Skulduggery Pleasant for the knockout!" the sorcerer Vivi thought was named Steven Cryer announced and pushed his way through the loud, squabbling people, presenting a hundred-dollar bill to Vivi. The girl was standing on a chair holding a bucket that the medical wing used for vomit (it had no vomit in it now) and it was filled with money.

Skulduggery went crashing into a metal cart of tools by the hand of Dexter Vex's strong right hook and the sanctuary medical wing got the pleasure of watching the street fight between the two. Vivi was making a fortune and a half on people's bets. If no one got knocked out she would be allowed to keep the money for herself, and she planned on it. She had made sure when she started the bets and with the bets she accepted that there was a loophole working in her favour. She was a lot smarter than people gave her credit for.

"Skulduggery, what did I do? Why the hell are you punching me?!" Dexter yelled over the shouts of the crowd that had gathered, wiping blood from his wonky nose.

"I bet a fifty that it has something to do with Valkyrie Cain!" a sorcerer offered and Vivi thought for a moment before accepting the bet. She knew it ** _was_** most likely about Valkyrie Cain, but she'd just run away with all the money in the end anyway!

"How could you say those things to Valkyrie, Dexter?! You really hurt her. You made Valkyrie Cain cry! Val is like my daughter. I took a vow long ago that if anyone hurts my family they die. Because you're my friend and Valkyrie wouldn't want me to stoop to Ravel's level, I'm not going to kill you. But that doesn't mean I'm going to let you get away with it easily." Skulduggery growled back.

His deep voice once so charming was now destructive. As if the very sound waves it travelled with could shatter the Earth. Dexter couldn't remember ever hearing Skulduggery speak the way he just did. There was no riddle, or sarcasm, or boasting, or jokes. He was serious. Skulduggery pulled himself up from the cart and straightened his tie with sharp motions. Dexter was frozen. All around them more bets were being placed.

**_He'd made Valkyrie cry? He'd never meant to do that, He never wanted that to happen, whether it was his fault or not._ **

"I never meant to hurt her," he said softly, more to himself than anyone else. Then he spoke louder and directed his speech towards Skulduggery. "I need to find her. To apologize. I didn't mean what I said. We were fighting and it slipped out. For her sake, Skulduggery, please."

"That's ninety-nine point eighty-nine percent of people betting on Skulduggery for the knockout! Any more bets?" Vivi called to the people.

"I Bet that Skulduggery will let Dexter go with a broken nose!" someone screamed out and shoved five hundred dollars into Vivi's bucket.

Vivi grinned maniacally, she could buy a whole shop of ice-cream with this much money! But by the way the fight was going, it looked like she owed ninety-nine point eighty-nine percent of the people there double the amount of money they had given her. Skulduggery slowly, stiffly inching towards an exhausted-looking Dexter Vex. It would be over shortly and Vivi would owe **_a lot_** of people **_a lot_** of money. So she slunk away and snuck through the closely jammed-pack of wild sorcerers. There was a sickening crunch as Skulduggery's bony fist collided with Dexter's nose and crumbled what bone was left held together after the first blow.

"You must own a lot of rabbit feet and four-leaf clovers because you're lucky I'm letting you off easy. If Valkyrie ever comes to me with so much as a tear in her eye because of you, I'll kick you and your popping pectorals into Mevolant's dimension. Now go and find her before it gets worse and she finds Tanith. Then you'll really have your hands full." Skulduggery threatened, his voice low, quiet, and grave.

Dexter took a deep breath in relief and hurried off to find Valkyrie. Except this time, he was sporting a shattered nose and bruised pride. The spectators of the event began searching for Vivi to claim their cash rewards but the girl was already taking off with the money into the left part of the medical wing.

"HEY! There she is! After her!" the sorcerer who had bet five hundred shouted and pointed to where Vivi had run off to. The gush of people swarmed after her like an army of fangirls chasing their favourite author after their favourite character had been killed. Desperate, dangerous, and vengeful.

"You'll never catch me! I'm going to buy thousands of ice-creams!" Vivi screeched back at the flood of mages chasing her and bolted through the Sanctuary causing operatives to hurl themselves out of the way left, right and centre. 


	59. Day 1; 12:00 P.M

Alice sat fiddling with her fingers in lap nervously in the medical wing waiting to see if Myosotis was okay. She had no idea what had come over her. She had been walking out of the training centre ready to blowtorch the sanctuary to the ground when she became herself again. She felt as if something else was in her head and she was being used as a puppet. And frankly, she didn't like the thought of being someone's Pinocchio. So she abandoned the thought. The Doctor, Reverie Synecdoche Alice thought her name was, and her new assistant came through the doors in front of her and she looked up quickly.

"Well? Is she okay?" Alice asked.

"She's fine. Just a small concussion. Myosotis Terra has been through a lot more than that." Doctor Synecdoche replied.

"Thank God." Alice sighed in relief and she could relax her shoulders.

"I have a few other things to do so I'll be unable to check up on her but my new assistant Staven Weeper will be up to the task." The doctor smiled and walked away. Staven Weeper gave her a kind nod.

"You must be Alice Edgley. Valkyrie Cain's sister, right? It must be amazing to have someone like her have your back." Staven said.

"Yeah right. She doesn't have my back. And I don't want her to. If you'll excuse me, I have to go now." Alice snorted and got up to walk away. As she passed Staven he accidentally tripped over a table and fell into her. They both crashed to the floor and Alice felt a small throbbing pain in her right arm. They got up and she checked her arm. There was a scratch and she was bleeding. She must have cut herself on something on the way down.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I'm such a klutz! Are you okay?" Weeper asked her and she shrugged.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She responded coldly and walked off.


	60. Day 1; 12:05 P.M

"-and that's how I got possum pee stuck in my hair for three days." Fletcher finished telling Valkyrie his heroic tale of his thrilling encounter with a possum during a camping trip with Myra. It included everything a typical story of Fletcher's usually had. Tragic circumstances, cocky wit battles, sarcastic humour, idiocy and love for hair.

"You know, I really missed this part of having a boyfriend. The one-on-one conversations that are goofy and make no sense to outsiders because of all our inside jokes and the cuddling with the great food." Valkyrie smiled up at Fletcher.

She was lying across the floor in the same abandoned room with her head in her boyfriend's lap. He was stroking her hair and feeding her chocolate-covered strawberries that he'd popped over to get from New Zealand.

"I missed having someone to talk to. You and I were always good at that." Fletcher gazed lovingly into her eyes. "But you know what else I missed that we were very good at? This."

He said and leaned down to kiss the beautiful girl in his lap. As soon as their lips connected the door to the dusty room was opened and they broke away in shock, clashing foreheads accidentally as Valkyrie sat up. Dexter Vex stood bloodied and bruised in the doorway. On his face was a look of shock and (although Valkyrie didn't realize it), heartbreak.

He had been wandering the corridors and checking all the rooms until he almost gave up and walked in on Valkyrie draped over Fletcher's lap, being kissed by her Ex-boyfriend. Well, maybe not Ex-Boyfriend anymore. It was like a stab to his heart. Valkyrie's chest pounded and the butterflies tickled the inside of her stomach as they flew around. She felt a number of conflicting emotions at once. Her heart lurched at the sight of the man she had fallen for covered in blood with his nose bent in several unnatural ways. She wanted to run to him. To make sure he would be okay. To ask him what happened. To take away the obvious pain he was in. But there was the guilt of repeating history. The guilt of loving another man while she was in a relationship with someone she had already cheated on before and got back with even though she never fell in love with him. So she did nothing. Just sat where she was next to Fletcher. But he managed to find her voice before either of the boys.

"Dexter," she said as coldly as she could but it came out sounding like a strangled cry. "You're looking a little worse for wear."


	61. Day 1; 12:05 P.M

Vivi darted through the corridors from the left of the Sanctuary, to the top level, to the bottom, until she eventually became cornered by the mob of angry people in the accelerator room. The people were all talking over one another, eagerly trying to promote their main meal of commanding their money back with a side dish of threats. Together all their separate nags merged into a constant buzz of chatter and Vivi had enough.

"QUIET!" she screeched at the top of her lungs for as long as she could and then there was silence.

"Hey! You give us our money back right now!" one man yelled and shook his fist at her.

"Why would I ever do that?" Vivi asked, sincerely gobsmacked at why he would expect her to do such a thing.

"Because! My wife told me I wasn't allowed to gamble anymore. If she finds out I bet our weekly wage on a fight in the Sanctuary medical wing and I lost all $500 she'll divorce me and I'll be alone." The man sobbed.

"And how do you feel about that?" Vivi placed a hand delicately on her chin and narrowed her eyes, nodding like she was sympathizing with what the man had said.

"I feel sad. Because she's so pushy. I make all the money and I should be able to spend it the way I want. All she does is stay at home all day watching Pretty Little Liars and spending money on making herself beautiful. And that's the problem. It makes her so pretty that I can't bear to leave her. That's why I married her in the first place." He said like a child whinging about his sister taking his lollypop, sniffling into his sleeve.

"I know how you feel. It's important for you to tell your wife how you feel. Except for the part about you only marrying her for her looks or we'll find your body buried in her rose garden. She won't be able to change if she doesn't know that he has to." Vivi gave him advice like an expert and soon there were people lining up and confessing to her.

"I stole a small fortune from my grandma's house after she died. I was the only one who knew she kept hundreds of thousands of dollars in the mattress in the spare bedroom." A short woman with rich clothing and jewellery said.

"I just got out of jail and now I'm pretending to have graduated from medical school so I can get a job here as a doctor but I have no idea what I'm doing. I just need the money." Admitted another. And Vivi gave the same initial answer to all of them.

"And how do you feel about that?" she responded to a man in the crows who had faked his own death to earn compensation by the mortal government and moved from New Zealand t Ireland.

"That's enough! Why are we talking to her like she's our guidance counsellor?! She has our money!" a woman spoke up from the back. "She's probably not even a qualified phycologist!"

"No shit Sherlock, you could be the next Skulduggery Pleasant! Of course she's unqualified, she's a bloody teenager!" a man snorted with cruel laughter and the woman glared at him.

"Hey! I am absolutely offended! I am qualified! I passed my college degree. Or maybe I didn't. But I've been to a phycologist before." Then Vivi stopped and looked up at the ceiling trying to remember. "No, that's not right either. An EXORCIST! That's it! I've been sent to an exorcist before. But they're similar, aren't they? The priests and monks tried to force a demon out of me and ran away screaming that I'm spawn of the devil himself and cannot be helped so I guess maybe they're not as similar as I first thought. But the concept is the same, isn't it? Psychology is about getting rid of your inner demons, right?"

The crowd transformed from a mob to a group counselling session and back into a frenzy in a little under 10 minutes. So Vivi dropped to the floor with the bucket of money, forgetting completely about her magic because...logic, am I right? And she crawled through the jungle of legs until she saw a shiny coin on the floor.

"Ooh! More money!" she squeaked happily and bent her neck to lower her face to the ground to smell it because that's totally normal for a teenage girl. Not. On her way, she bumped her head against the wall in front of her and scowled. "Oww!"

A sigil on the wall began to pulse with dim yellow light and the section of the wall just in front of Vivi sank into the ground and a dark passageway was revealed. Vivi dragged the bucket along with her, remembering to pick up the coin because every dollar counts, and went through without anyone noticing she had left. As she shuffled onwards the passage door resealed itself with a quiet rumble, leaving her vision to be engulfed in darkness.

"Where did she go?" a man asked.


	62. Day 1; 12:05 P.M

Vivi darted through the corridors from the left of the Sanctuary, to the top level, to the bottom, until she eventually became cornered by the mob of angry people in the accelerator room. The people were all talking over one another, eagerly trying to promote their main meal of commanding their money back with a side dish of threats. Together all their separate nags merged into a constant buzz of chatter and Vivi had enough.

"QUIET!" she screeched at the top of her lungs for as long as she could and then there was silence.

"Hey! You give us our money back right now!" one man yelled and shook his fist at her.

"Why would I ever do that?" Vivi asked, sincerely gobsmacked at why he would expect her to do such a thing.

"Because! My wife told me I wasn't allowed to gamble anymore. If she finds out I bet our weekly wage on a fight in the Sanctuary medical wing and I lost all $500 she'll divorce me and I'll be alone." The man sobbed.

"And how do you feel about that?" Vivi placed a hand delicately on her chin and narrowed her eyes, nodding like she was sympathizing with what the man had said.

"I feel sad. Because she's so pushy. I make all the money and I should be able to spend it the way I want. All she does is stay at home all day watching Pretty Little Liars and spending money on making herself beautiful. And that's the problem. It makes her so pretty that I can't bear to leave her. That's why I married her in the first place." He said like a child whinging about his sister taking his lollypop, sniffling into his sleeve.

"I know how you feel. It's important for you to tell your wife how you feel. Except for the part about you only marrying her for her looks or we'll find your body buried in her rose garden. She won't be able to change if she doesn't know that he has to." Vivi gave him advice like an expert and soon there were people lining up and confessing to her.

"I stole a small fortune from my grandma's house after she died. I was the only one who knew she kept hundreds of thousands of dollars in the mattress in the spare bedroom." A short woman with rich clothing and jewellery said.

"I just got out of jail and now I'm pretending to have graduated from medical school so I can get a job here as a doctor but I have no idea what I'm doing. I just need the money." Admitted another. And Vivi gave the same initial answer to all of them.

"And how do you feel about that?" she responded to a man in the crows who had faked his own death to earn compensation by the mortal government and moved from New Zealand t Ireland.

"That's enough! Why are we talking to her like she's our guidance counsellor?! She has our money!" a woman spoke up from the back. "She's probably not even a qualified phycologist!"

"No shit Sherlock, you could be the next Skulduggery Pleasant! Of course she's unqualified, she's a bloody teenager!" a man snorted with cruel laughter and the woman glared at him.

"Hey! I am absolutely offended! I am qualified! I passed my college degree. Or maybe I didn't. But I've been to a phycologist before." Then Vivi stopped and looked up at the ceiling trying to remember. "No, that's not right either. An EXORCIST! That's it! I've been sent to an exorcist before. But they're similar, aren't they? The priests and monks tried to force a demon out of me and ran away screaming that I'm spawn of the devil himself and cannot be helped so I guess maybe they're not as similar as I first thought. But the concept is the same, isn't it? Phsycology is about getting rid of your inner demons, right?"

The crowd transformed from a mob to a group counselling session and back into a frenzy in a little under 10 minutes. So Vivi dropped to the floor with the bucket of money, forgetting completely about her magic because...logic, am I right? And she crawled through the jungle of legs until she saw a shiny coin on the floor.

"Ooh! More money!" she squeaked happily and bent her neck to lower her face to the ground to smell it because that's totally normal for a teenage girl. Not. On her way, she bumped her head against the wall in front of her and scowled. "Oww!"

A sigil on the wall began to pulse with dim yellow light and the section of the wall just in front of Vivi sank into the ground and a dark passageway was revealed. Vivi dragged the bucket along with her, remembering to pick up the coin because every dollar counts, and went through without anyone noticing she had left. As she shuffled onwards the passage door resealed itself with a quiet rumble, leaving her vision to be engulfed in darkness.

"Where did she go?" a man asked.


	63. Day 1; 12:05 P.M

Vivi darted through the corridors from the left of the Sanctuary, to the top level, to the bottom, until she eventually became cornered by the mob of angry people in the accelerator room. The people were all talking over one another, eagerly trying to promote their main meal of commanding their money back with a side dish of threats. Together all their separate nags merged into a constant buzz of chatter and Vivi had enough.

"QUIET!" she screeched at the top of her lungs for as long as she could and then there was silence.

"Hey! You give us our money back right now!" one man yelled and shook his fist at her.

"Why would I ever do that?" Vivi asked, sincerely gobsmacked at why he would expect her to do such a thing.

"Because! My wife told me I wasn't allowed to gamble anymore. If she finds out I bet our weekly wage on a fight in the Sanctuary medical wing and I lost all $500 she'll divorce me and I'll be alone." The man sobbed.

"And how do you feel about that?" Vivi placed a hand delicately on her chin and narrowed her eyes, nodding like she was sympathizing with what the man had said.

"I feel sad. Because she's so pushy. I make all the money and I should be able to spend it the way I want. All she does is stay at home all day watching Pretty Little Liars and spending money on making herself beautiful. And that's the problem. It makes her so pretty that I can't bear to leave her. That's why I married her in the first place." He said like a child whinging about his sister taking his lollypop, sniffling into his sleeve.

"I know how you feel. It's important for you to tell your wife how you feel. Except for the part about you only marrying her for her looks or we'll find your body buried in her rose garden. She won't be able to change if she doesn't know that he has to." Vivi gave him advice like an expert and soon there were people lining up and confessing to her.

"I stole a small fortune from my grandma's house after she died. I was the only one who knew she kept hundreds of thousands of dollars in the mattress in the spare bedroom." A short woman with rich clothing and jewelry said.

"I just got out of jail and now I'm pretending to have graduated from medical school so I can get a job here as a doctor but I have no idea what I'm doing. I just need the money." Admitted another. And Vivi gave the same initial answer to all of them.

"And how do you feel about that?" she responded to a man in the crows who had faked his own death to earn compensation by the mortal government and moved from New Zealand t Ireland.

"That's enough! Why are we talking to her like she's our guidance counselor?! She has our money!" a woman spoke up from the back. "She's probably not even a qualified phycologist!"

"No shit Sherlock, you could be the next Skulduggery Pleasant! Of course she's unqualified, she's a bloody teenager!" a man snorted with cruel laughter and the woman glared at him.

"Hey! I am absolutely offended! I am qualified! I passed my college degree. Or maybe I didn't. But I've been to a phycologist before." Then Vivi stopped and looked up at the ceiling trying to remember. "No, that's not right either. An EXORCIST! That's it! I've been sent to an exorcist before. But they're similar, aren't they? The priests and monks tried to force a demon out of me and ran away screaming that I'm spawn of the devil himself and cannot be helped so I guess maybe they're not as similar as I first thought. But the concept is the same, isn't it? Phsycology is about getting rid of your inner demons, right?"

The crowd transformed from a mob to a group counseling session and back into a frenzy in a little under 10 minutes. So Vivi dropped to the floor with the bucket of money, forgetting completely about her magic because...logic, am I right? And she crawled through the jungle of legs until she saw a shiny coin on the floor.

"Ooh! More money!" she squeaked happily and bent her neck to lower her face to the ground to smell it because that's totally normal for a teenage girl. Not. On her way, she bumped her head against the wall in front of her and scowled. "Oww!"

A sigil on the wall began to pulse with dim yellow light and the section of the wall just in front of Vivi sank into the ground and a dark passageway was revealed. Vivi dragged the bucket along with her, remembering to pick up the coin because every dollar counts, and went through without anyone noticing she had left. As she shuffled onwards the passage door resealed itself with a quiet rumble, leaving her vision to be engulfed in darkness.

"Where did she go?" a man asked.


	64. Day 1; 12:05 P.M

Fletcher detected Valkyrie's voice breaking and how emotional she had become and so when he pulled her up to stand he hugged her close to his side protectively, giving Dexter the message to back off. Dexter felt like hitting a wall with a sledgehammer at the thought of them together. But he pushed his violent urges aside and forced on his apologies.

"Yeah, I had a run-in with Skulduggery on my way here. Let's just say he isn't the most forgiving person in the world." Dexter had attempted a joke but because of his distaste towards the woman he has strong romantic feelings for being in another man's arms made him sound ungrateful and stuck up.

"So you don't think you deserved what you got?" Fletcher questioned him icily.

"I never said that. But just because I deserved it, it doesn't mean that I particularly enjoyed it."

"You know Dexter, I'm not the only one who did terrible things. If I recall correctly, you were the one, remnant or no remnant, who kidnapped my sister, blatantly threatened me and my parents, abandoned me to almost die in a fight twice and aided, also flirting with, might I add, Darquesse. Don't act surprised, Darquesse was still a part of me and I sometimes see dreams of what she did and I saw you getting all lovey-dovey with her. You can argue all you want that you were possessed but there's still a part of you that stays behind. And that was exactly the case with Tanith, she saved my life, betrayed Darquesse all for me and that's what counted in the end. But you? You did nothing for us. Showed no emotion or loyalty to the Dead Men what-so-ever. And afterwards, you didn't even feel bad." Valkyrie narrowed her eyes at him. She saw the pain register on his face and she regretted what she had said. It was a flaw of hers that Skulduggery had pointed out years ago. When she thought there was an argument coming she started fighting early.

"Valkyrie, I'm so sorry for what I said. I didn't mean for it to come out like that. I'm not going to lie to you, so I'm not going to tell you it's not true. Because it is and you know it. But I'm still sorry I said it because I don't ever want to hurt you. Just, you can be so stubborn sometimes. And I know what you just said is the truth. I have to admit I didn't know about the whole me liking Darquesse romantically thing but it's kinda unnerving. I know that it doesn't seem like I felt bad about it but I feel guilty too. I'm just used to these things enough to understand and accept that it wasn't really me. That comes with hundreds of years of experience and mistakes. You haven't learned that yet. I know all those things already Valkyrie. That's why I stayed. That's how you and I are different. I knew that me leaving wouldn't help anyone, I knew I needed to be around to make up for it all and I'd feel better about what I did if I knew everyone forgave me. With you, it's harder because there will always be people to remind you of it and people who will hate you. That's what we did differently and how it affected our feelings about the situation. You left but that just gave you more time to feel guilty and think about what you did. I kept busy." Dexter explained to her, he surprised Valkyrie by not continuing the argument and instead giving her advice. And her anger subsided, leaving her feeling even more guilty.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I don't actually hold those things against you. I forgave you for those as quickly as they happened. So the reason for you staying was to get forgiveness? Do you think that once you've made up for everything you'll leave and go globe-trotting again?" Valkyrie asked him hesitantly. She rather enjoyed having him around and really didn't want him to go.

"That's what I wanted to tell you. I can't stay here. I have a mission already planned out. I realized that Silas Nadir is still running about somewhere and Nye was never found. I'm leaving as soon as I get my nose fixed. I'm going to track them down, Nadir first and then Nye. Then I'll move onto something else. I hear Africa's having trouble with the Maidens of the New Dawn." Dexter nodded after a moment of hesitation. Seeing Valkyrie with Fletcher was too much for him handle so his timing couldn't have been better.

He had originally planned to search for them as a team mission with all the Dead Men whenever they found time during the current crisis. Maybe he would have become an official Sanctuary agent and he could have spent more time with Valkyrie. But now he knew she didn't want him in the way he wanted her. So now he could leave without having to worry about what could have been between them. It was evident that she and Fletcher were back together and happy about it.

"When you're done here?" she repeated his words, seemingly at a loss for any of her own.

"When will that be?" Fletcher asked, apparently not too phased by the revelation.

"When I've completed my current mission. When I'm done doing what I meant to do by staying here. When I've made up for everything that I did." Dexter said, never taking his eyes off Valkyrie's and directing his speech towards her. His face betrayed his emotion for a few seconds before he regained his professionalism because that was obviously all he and Valkyrie would ever be to one another despite his wishes. Work partners and friends.

"But how will you know when that is? I've tried, Skulduggery's tried, who knows when we'll make up for everything..." Valkyrie croaked, tears in her striking dark eyes and Dexter's heart staggered in his chest at the thought that he'd probably live out the next few years of his life without being able to look into those lovely eyes again. Or her face. Or her smile. Or listen to her voice. He'd spend a long time just thinking about her and grieving over the end of a relationship he'd never even had the courage to start.

"Well, I let the people I hurt decide whether I've redeemed myself or not. And there was one last person I needed to forgive me before I go." He told her with a small sad smile and she took a step back as if he'd shot her, shaking her head. She was refusing to believe that Dexter was leaving.

"No," she spoke up when she found her words. Fletcher gripped her waist tightly and caressed her back soothingly. "I don't forgive you. There. Now you can't leave. You have to stay. So go and make your face hot again and I'll see you tomorrow when we all go for breakfast like this morning."

"It doesn't work like that. I've already booked my flight on a jet, it'll take me there a little faster than a plane. I'm leaving in literally half an hour to go to the airport and catch my flight. Luckily I can slip through all the customs easily because of the whole sanctuary thing. Besides, you already forgave me before, remember?" Dexter laughed at her determination softly.

"No. I take it back. I don't forgive you. What for? So you can go and travel the world again getting yourself into danger to forget us all again? To forget me again? 'Goodbye, I'll see you again when I remember you exist in about ten years!' Is that how it is?" Valkyrie blinked to clear her swimming vision and the tears she had been attempting to hold back fell, her voice rising.

"That's what it was like waiting for you," Dexter replied and she felt her insides freeze. "But I couldn't forget you. It'd be impossible. I'd have to have amnesia. I'd sooner forget my own head in Ireland than forget you. But I am going." Dexter took a deep breath, trying hard not to run to her and hug her. To hold her in his arms. But that's what her stupid. Boyfriend. Fletcher. Was for. So he turned and began his way back to the medical wing to fix his noise before he left when Valkyrie called one last thing out to him.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning for breakfast, Dexter." Her voice filled his ears and chipped through his final defences, allowing his heart to feel the hurt.

But he kept walking.

Kept moving like a mindless robot.

Fixed his nose.

Got to the sanctuary parking lot.

Climbed into his Porsche.

Drove to Skulduggery's house.

Picked up his suitcases.

Drove to the airport.

Parked it.

Got out.

Went through customs.

Went through the usually long and boring but today speedy airport routine.

He got onto his plane at 12:40.

Waited with his mind numb until 12:50 when the flight took off.

Thought about what Valkyrie had said to him, the last time he'd hear her voice for a long time.

"No, you won't," he whispered his answer from miles away, just for his own closure. Then the fact finally sank in that he'd be alone again for a while and he began to function as usual. Already planning what he was going to do first to catch Nadir.


	65. Day 1; 12:05 P.M

Fletcher detected Valkyrie's voice breaking and how emotional she had become and so when he pulled her up to stand he hugged her close to his side protectively, giving Dexter the message to back off. Dexter felt like hitting a wall with a sledgehammer at the thought of them together. But he pushed his violent urges aside and forced on his apologies.

"Yeah, I had a run-in with Skulduggery on my way here. Let's just say he isn't the most forgiving person in the world." Dexter had attempted a joke but because of his distaste towards the woman he has strong romantic feelings for being in another man's arms made him sound ungrateful and stuck up.

"So you don't think you deserved what you got?" Fletcher questioned him icily.

"I never said that. But just because I deserved it, it doesn't mean that I particularly enjoyed it."

"You know Dexter, I'm not the only one who did terrible things. If I recall correctly, you were the one, remnant or no remnant, who kidnapped my sister, blatantly threatened me and my parents, abandoned me to almost die in a fight twice and aided, also flirting with, might I add, Darquesse. Don't act surprised, Darquesse was still a part of me and I sometimes see dreams of what she did and I saw you getting all lovey-dovey with her. You can argue all you want that you were possessed but there's still a part of you that stays behind. And that was exactly the case with Tanith, she saved my life, betrayed Darquesse all for me and that's what counted in the end. But you? You did nothing for us. Showed no emotion or loyalty to the Dead Men what-so-ever. And afterward, you didn't even feel bad." Valkyrie narrowed her eyes at him. She saw the pain register on his face and she regretted what she had said. It was a flaw of hers that Skulduggery had pointed out years ago. When she thought there was an argument coming she started fighting early.

"Valkyrie, I'm so sorry for what I said. I didn't mean for it to come out like that. I'm not going to lie to you, so I'm not going to tell you it's not true. Because it is and you know it. But I'm still sorry I said it because I don't ever want to hurt you. Just, you can be so stubborn sometimes. And I know what you just said is the truth. I have to admit I didn't know about the whole me liking Darquesse romantically thing but it's kinda unnerving. I know that it doesn't seem like I felt bad about it but I feel guilty too. I'm just used to these things enough to understand and accept that it wasn't really me. That comes with hundreds of years of experience and mistakes. You haven't learned that yet. I know all those things already Valkyrie. That's why I stayed. That's how you and I are different. I knew that me leaving wouldn't help anyone, I knew I needed to be around to make up for it all and I'd feel better about what I did if I knew everyone forgave me. With you, it's harder because there will always be people to remind you of it and people who will hate you. That's what we did differently and how it affected our feelings about the situation. You left but that just gave you more time to feel guilty and think about what you did. I kept busy." Dexter explained to her, he surprised Valkyrie by not continuing the argument and instead giving her advice. And her anger subsided, leaving her feeling even more guilty.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I don't actually hold those things against you. I forgave you for those as quickly as they happened. So the reason for you staying was to get forgiveness? Do you think that once you've made up for everything you'll leave and go globe-trotting again?" Valkyrie asked him hesitantly. She rather enjoyed having him around and really didn't want him to go.

"That's what I wanted to tell you. I can't stay here. I have a mission already planned out. I realized that Silas Nadir is still running about somewhere and Nye was never found. I'm leaving as soon as I get my nose fixed. I'm going to track them down, Nadir first and then Nye. Then I'll move onto something else. I hear Africa's having trouble with the Maidens of the New Dawn." Dexter nodded after a moment of hesitation. Seeing Valkyrie with Fletcher was too much for him handle so his timing couldn't have been better.

He had originally planned to search for them as a team mission with all the Dead Men whenever they found time during the current crisis. Maybe he would have become an official Sanctuary agent and he could have spent more time with Valkyrie. But now he knew she didn't want him in the way he wanted her. So now he could leave without having to worry about what could have been between them. It was evident that she and Fletcher were back together and happy about it.

"When you're done here?" she repeated his words, seemingly at a loss for any of her own.

"When will that be?" Fletcher asked, apparently not too phased by the revelation.

"When I've completed my current mission. When I'm done doing what I meant to do by staying here. When I've made up for everything that I did." Dexter said, never taking his eyes off Valkyrie's and directing his speech towards her. His face betrayed his emotion for a few seconds before he regained his professionalism because that was obviously all he and Valkyrie would ever be to one another despite his wishes. Work partners and friends.

"But how will you know when that is? I've tried, Skulduggery's tried, who knows when we'll make up for everything..." Valkyrie croaked, tears in her striking dark eyes and Dexter's heart staggered in his chest at the thought that he'd probably live out the next few years of his life without being able to look into those lovely eyes again. Or her face. Or her smile. Or listen to her voice. He'd spend a long time just thinking about her and grieving over the end of a relationship he'd never even had the courage to start.

"Well, I let the people I hurt decide whether I've redeemed myself or not. And there was one last person I needed to forgive me before I go." He told her with a small sad smile and she took a step back as if he'd shot her, shaking her head. She was refusing to believe that Dexter was leaving.

"No." she spoke up when she found her words. Fletcher gripped her waist tightly and caressed her back soothingly. "I don't forgive you. There. Now you can't leave. You have to stay. So go and make your face hot again and I'll see you tomorrow when we all go for breakfast like this morning."

"It doesn't work like that. I've already booked my flight on a jet, it'll take me there a little faster than a plane. I'm leaving in literally half an hour to go to the airport and catch my flight. Luckily I can slip through all the customs easily because of the whole sanctuary thing. Besides, you already forgave me before, remember?" Dexter laughed at her determination softly.

"No. I take it back. I don't forgive you. What for? So you can go and travel the world again getting yourself into danger to forget us all again? To forget me again? 'Goodbye, I'll see you again when I remember you exist in about ten years!' Is that how it is?" Valkyrie blinked to clear her swimming vision and the tears she had been attempting to hold back fell, her voice rising.

"That's what it was like waiting for you," Dexter replied and she felt her insides freeze. "But I couldn't forget you. It'd be impossible. I'd have to have amnesia. I'd sooner forget my own head in Ireland than forget you. But I am going." Dexter took a deep breath, trying hard not to run to her and hug her. To hold her in his arms. But that's what her stupid. Boyfriend. Fletcher. Was for. So he turned and began his way back to the medical wing to fix his noise before he left when Valkyrie called one last thing out to him.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning for breakfast, Dexter." Her voice filled his ears and chipped through his final defenses, allowing his heart to feel the hurt.

But he kept walking.

Kept moving like a mindless robot.

Fixed his nose.

Got to the sanctuary parking lot.

Climbed into his Porsche.

Drove to Skulduggery's house.

Picked up his suitcases.

Drove to the airport.

Parked it.

Got out.

Went through customs.

Went through the usually long and boring but today speedy airport routine.

He got onto his plane at 12:40.

Waited with his mind numb until 12:50 when the flight took off.

Thought about what Valkyrie had said to him, the last time he'd hear her voice for a long time.

"No, you won't," he whispered his answer from miles away, just for his own closure. Then the fact finally sank in that he'd be alone again for a while and he began to function as usual. Already planning what he was going to do first to catch Nadir.


	66. Day 1; 12:05 P.M

"I made it away from all the crazy people! Mr C kicked them all out after telling them it was their fault for betting it all to a deranged teenage girl and I got to keep all the money! I'm going to buy _a lot_ of ice-cream! And I found a secret hallway and I found a skeleton that was lying down next to this glowy-blue thingy, I thought it was wearing a pink necklace but it was just the gems on the handle of the knife that was wedged into his spine through where his throat would have been." Vivi shrugged like what she said was the most casual thing in the world.

"Mhmm," Alice mumbled, pretending to listen. She was too busy worrying about what she had done to Myosotis. She hadn't even bothered much when she did it. But after the rush of powerful magic had dwindled she started to care about what had happened. She was waiting in the training centre, trying to figure out what made her do what she did.

"But then there was this really weird explosion of light-thing and I had to leave because the nice, wise, old man kicked me out. He said that as a woman I wasn't allowed to be there and it was a man's job. So I left. I respected that. He was such a nice, sweet old man. Although now that I think about it, it was very rude. Sexist Pig." Vivi finished her story with quite a turnaround and Alice was still pretending to listen.

"Mhmm. Sexist pig, he was." She agreed but had no idea what Vivi was on about.


	67. Day 1; 3:05 P.M

"Any news on Myosotis?" Valkyrie asked Skulduggery as they walked through the parking lot o the Bentley.

"Yes, actually. Thankfully she's fine. She just got knocked out by the impact." He answered her. Straight to the point. No joke. Serious tone.

"I still don't get how it happened. What, Alice just got carried away in training and when Myosotis was teaching her she accidentally launched Myosotis into the wall and now Myosotis can't remember within five minutes before she got concussed? Cause that's what Doctor Synecdoche said. You don't really believe that, do you?" Valkyrie tested her detective partner to see if he would respond the way she was expecting him to.

"I'm not sure." Skulduggery answered. Humourless. Devoid of any opinion. Straight answer. No riddle.

"You're angry about something." Valkyrie pointed out once she had tested and proven her theory. He seemed too quiet. "Why are you angry? Is it because of Dexter? It's because of Dexter, isn't it?"

"No," he replied simply. After a five minutes' silence, they got into the Bentley and he turned the keys in the ignition, starting up the engine. "How could you not tell me about this earlier? When I asked you yesterday who said it, you told me it was a Roarhaven mage and I assumed it was the ones who were beating you up fifteen years ago and let out the secret that you killed Alice. Not Dexter. Why did you lie? You should feel guilty about lying right now. So go on, feel guilty, and answer my question truthfully. Not like how you lied to me yesterday. Feel the guilt."

"Very funny. I think I've felt enough guilt these past 15 years thank you very much. I guess I didn't really want to talk about it then." Valkyrie shrugged. Dexter Vex was still a tender subject with her.

"No. You're lying again. Obviously you're not very good at feeling guilty. You were the one who brought it up. I know you like the back of my hand Val, you wouldn't have breached the subject if you weren't ready to discuss the whole thing. You were protecting him, weren't you?" Skulduggery pressured her for an answer. She sank lower in her seat.

"No. I just..." Valkyrie struggled to come up with a believable excuse. "I wanted your unclouded opinion." She decided on.

"Why would you want to protect him if he hurt you?" Skulduggery kept persisting. After he caught her hesitation he went still. "You like him, don't you?"

"What?! Pfft! No! Don't be ridiculous, Skulduggery!" Valkyrie pulled a disgusted face. "Like him... Pfft! That's crazy! Preposterous! Absolutely..." she felt his eye sockets burning into her and she sagged. "...yes."

"How long have you liked him for?" Skulduggery asked and she sighed in irritation and defeat.

"Don't you ever give up or let someone else have some personal space? Why can't you just let me have something to myself!" Valkyrie yelled at him.

"So you told Tanith?" Skulduggery asked like he already knew the answer. More of a statement to show off how smart he was at figuring things out. "How long?"

Valkyrie tried to keep the smile off her face when thinking about when Dexter Vex and her first meeting when had she began crushing on him. And then when she began actually liking him. "17 years or thereabouts."

"17 years!" Skulduggery exclaimed.

"Or thereabouts." She repeated.

"Oh dear, Valkyrie. You're in love! Oh, this is awful. You complete idiot. You utter fool. You dumb girl." He insulted her with a bemused tone in his voice. He started driving on their way as soon as he was satisfied with his answer.

"I'm not in love! I just like him, that's all. A lot. So you're not mad?" Valkyrie asked slowly, like she was dipping her toe into a pool to check the temperature before she plunged in head-first.

"Not at all." Skulduggery responded and Valkyrie felt a large weight of dread lift off her shoulders. Until his next words, that is. "It's amusing. Valkyrie Cain, the naïve young girl falling helplessly in love with charming, heartbreaking, roguish Dexter Vex. It's **_hilariously_** amusing, really."

"What? What do you mean amusing? Heart-breaking?" Valkyrie asked, her jaw and high spirits plunging to the floor of the Bentley.

"Dexter Vex is three to four **_hundred_** years older than you Valkyrie. Despite this, he is still young and wild at heart. He's a globe trotter. He can never stay in the same place for too long. He's not ready to settle down or have a serious relationship. He's too childish. The typical girls he goes for are around your age, sure. But they're usually girls he meets at bars and stays with for a few weeks when he's in the area and leaves. The only time Dexter Vex had ever been in a serious relationship was with Sally, a weird hippy who was older than him. He needs someone to put him in check, not encourage his wild side. You're too young." Skulduggery started laughing and Valkyrie had the feeling he was laughing at her.

She started thinking about it. Skulduggery was right. Dexter Vex usually went for the younger girls but it was never a proper relationship. He was a charmer. He hopped from country to country and apparently from girl to girl. The more she thought about it the more she felt that this was just some celebrity crush that she used to have when she was 12 about people who were in their twenties and lived in America. She thought back to her conversation with him a few hours earlier. He said he was leaving. Could he have been telling her the truth? No, he wouldn't just leave like that. He wouldn't. She told herself, but the smarter part of her was telling her he was gone.

"But age doesn't matter for sorcerers, does it?" Valkyrie asked, completely serious and Skulduggery stopped laughing. His cheery, loose mood evaporating.

"Wait, Valkyrie, you're actually serious about this? You want a relationship with DEXTER VEX? He's hundreds of years old. There's no way." He told her and she felt her hopes sink to the bottom of the pool she'd plunged into. "Don't worry, you'll find someone. I'm sorry Val. I really am. This is a messy situation to find yourself in."

Valkyrie went quiet for the rest of the drive. Now that she knew how Skulduggery thought about the situation it dawned on her that she was trying to take on something way out of her depth. But she knew she was already in way over her head. She was in a relationship with Fletcher, but she wanted to be in a relationship with Dexter. Valkyrie got an overwhelming sense of deja vu. Could Dexter be to her now what Caelen was to her back then? After she'd seen what Caelen was truly like she wished to be back with Fletcher. What if the same thing was happening with Dexter and Fletcher now and Skulduggery was right about everything like he was last time? Fletcher was a great guy that she really enjoyed being with. And she had the notion that he might not be able to forgive her a second time.


	68. Day 1; 7:56 P.M

The country air was fresh and crisp and the night sky was clear of pollution and filled with sparkling stars caught in a web of midnight blue. The sound of Skulduggery's knuckles rapping against Cassandra Pharos's cottage interrupted the peaceful silence. The wooden door swung open with a squeak and Cassandra stood in the doorway, a calm smile on her face and her grey hair pulled into plaits.

"Hello, Valkyrie. It's lovely to see you again. Skulduggery, it's a pleasure as always." She greeted them and welcomed them inside.

Skulduggery and Valkyrie followed Cassandra through the house, passing the room with all the dream whisperers. Valkyrie felt the stick people staring at her as she passed. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she felt she was being watched. Cassandra took them down to the steam chamber and Skulduggery closed the door behind them. He summoned fire into his hands and dropped it through the metal grill to ignite the coals beneath them. Not for the first time, Valkyrie missed her elemental magic. Sure, her magic was powerful but she didn't know how to use it properly. With elemental magic she had practice and knew the tricks of the trade, so to speak.

"I've learned how to project memories of what I've seen onto the smoke instead of just what I am seeing at the moment," Cassandra informed Valkyrie with a smile. The heat was rising and Valkyrie was glad she couldn't feel it through her armoured black clothes. Cassandra opened up her umbrella and nodded to Skulduggery.

"There have been a few changes since the last time you were here, Skulduggery. I must warn you Valkyrie my dear, to remember that this hasn't happened yet." Cassandra cooed and Valkyrie's nerves began to jumble. After what she'd seen in the last vision, what could have been so bad that Cassandra had to warn her?

Skulduggery turned on the water sprinklers and steam rose from the floor gathering all around them in a milky white cloud. Images of a mansion with tapestries of the faceless ones adorning the walls imprinted themselves onto the steam. A tall, overweight man with blonde hair filled a glass with red wine and a younger man approached from behind. Valkyrie couldn't see either of their faces. They spoke briefly but their words were unintelligible.

"My source is very reliable. The sanctuary won't even suspect that this person isn't on their side." The younger man's words came out loud and clear before the image dispersed and was replaced with a man on his knees in a house, screaming with fear in his eyes.

A man she recognized as her father in a house that was her own in Haggard. Valkyrie's heart dropped and the water splashing her skin became immaterial to her. She'd seen her parents die before in a vision and in real life even though they were brought back. But the feeling that she had now was parallel only to what she had felt back then. Tears came to her eyes and Skulduggery's hand found hers and gave her a reassuring squeeze. She shut her eyes tight and tried to drown out the noise of her Father's screams. When the screams stopped she hesitantly opened her eyes to see Desmond Edgley's body. It was only there for a split second but the image stayed with her. She tried to block it all out but the images still came to her mind in painful flashes.

Eyes wide and glassy.

Body stiff and lifeless.

A simple bullet hole in the middle of his already ashen forehead.

She took a deep shaky breath and opened her eyes, watching the mist shift its position. The basement of Gordon's house appeared, the door to the caves open. Alice was crying and Ellion was yelling at her mercilessly. Valkyrie couldn't understand what they were saying mostly because the audio of the vision had begun to echo a thousand times over, overlapping the words to an indecipherable mess. That's the thing with these fog visions. There is always something wrong with either sound or motion. Valkyrie fleetingly wondered whether the fight between Ellion and Alice was what turned her younger sister evil for the final battle. Surely enough what came next was an army of hundreds of morphed men and women, their bodies deformed in one way or another. Valkyrie recognized the signs of possession by the Faceless Ones from her experience with Batu and his Diablerie.

Two men were standing at the front of the hundreds of Faceless Ones and their host bodies. Their faces were too blurry to recognize anything other than blonde hair as if the vision was trying to shield their identity. They were standing in the field outside the gates of Roarhaven in the position Charivari had held up back in the battle against the warlocks. In the front row of the army stood the emotionless, slackened general, Baron Vengeous. Next to the Baron was Mevolant himself with Lord Vile. Upon the wall stood her friends and allies. Saracen, Storm, Bobby, Xavier, Magneto, Jean, Cyclops, Mystique, other mutants she didn't know the names of, Gracious and Donegan. The enemy army parted down the middle and Vivi and Alice walked through as if they were the queens and this was their dark army. Valkyrie wished with all her might for Alice and Vivi to have been part of some intricate, genius plan thought up by Skulduggery Pleasant, and the Dead Men she didn't see on the wall were to come out from a clever hiding place and Vivi and Alice were going to open up a portal to the top of the wall and join Saracen just in time for Skulduggery to pull an elegant, smug and witty bad-ass speech about how they were going to win. But everything she had deduced about the situation was wrong. Alice and Vivi weren't like the deceptive Queens who were actually working for the other side, leading their army into a trap at the gates of the supposed opposition. Valkyrie found this out the hard way when the two teenage girls stopped beside the two men and the younger one pulled Alice in for a long kiss. The front line behind them loosened its formation for a group of mages Valkyrie identified as Faceless Ones supporters to jerk a group of other mages forward in an organized row, presented to the Roarhaven gates. This wasn't preparation for battle or a trap. Valkyrie realized very quickly that this was a threat promising spilled blood and failure for the Roarhaven mages.

An execution.


	69. Day 1; 8:05 P.M

The Mutants and the Roarhaven and Sanctuary sorcerers watched on remorsefully as the prisoners of war were shoved ruthlessly onto their knees, forced to kneel down at their enemy. It wasn't until now that Valkyrie got a good look at their faces. She saw her own eyes staring back at her with pity, as if she was trying to communicate with her past self that something was not as it seemed and it wasn't a good thing. Next to her was Dexter Vex, Skulduggery, even Ghastly, Tanith, another blonde woman and Ellion. She waited with dread for what she regrettably knew was about to come. The younger and taller blonde man motioned to the army behind him and Lord Vile stepped forward. She felt Skulduggery's hand freeze. She squeezed his hand to reassure him as he always did for her.

Shadows began gathering around Vile's armoured fist and just as he raised his arm the mist image was swept away and replaced by Dexter Vex running down a street calling her name. His left arm was soaked in blood and he looked pale. She didn't want to see what was coming next, dreading having to watch his death. But her eyes were glued to the image and as he rounded a corner a girl with dark hair turned around. She, future Valkyrie, turned around to face him. Her tattoo glowed with magic. Somehow they'd turned it back on again. Valkyrie hadn't even known that was possible. The Valkyrie in the vision started yelling at Dexter.

"What are you doing here! I need to hurry; it won't last much longer! Everything's ending! It's all finished, we have nothing left. This is our last chance and I have to go!" she shouted and moved to continue her sprint to the sanctuary.

Valkyrie (the real Valkyrie at this present time) waited and watched, trying to catch a sign that the inevitable moment was coming to warn herself before she watched future-self and Dexter die. But not yet, because Dexter grabbed her arm, pulled her around and tugged her into his arms. Before future-Valkyrie could protest he kissed her full on the mouth, her arms slid around his neck and he had one of his own hands in her hair and the other caressing her cheek. She hugged him close as if it was the end of the world, but then again, it probably was.

Present-time Valkyrie felt completely uncomfortable with an overwhelming sense of giddiness. She felt like her privacy had been invaded but felt also quite glad and couldn't wait for the actual moment when Dexter Vex would kiss her. She had felt Skulduggery seize up beside her and blushed. Not even able to watch herself in the scene unravelling in front of them. She awkwardly looked down at her shoes and noticed how they still seemed brand new even though they were made over 15 years ago. Then smoke filled the image and when it cleared a new one replaced it. They saw Roarhaven at a bird's eye view for the first time.

It wasn't exactly flattering as it was all crumbled and cracked with ice and blue-grey cold smog that mingled with the steel-grey gunfire smoke. Bright electric blue coloured flames danced high over the buildings The vision zoomed in like a swooping eagle on a figure entering the vicinity through a portal shining like solid ice, the place on the other side resembling a frozen over castle room with tapestries of Faceless Ones. No doubt it must have been a very medieval-looking place. Before it turned into a giant fridge, that is. The figure stood perfectly still, appearing deader than even Skulduggery. Hundreds of shadow figures gushed past him and were let loose on the city, clinging onto the faces of the remaining soldiers scattered around the battlements. Faceless Ones. More. When the torrent of pure evil insanity stopped and the portal closed Valkyrie got a better look of this figure.

It was missing a shoe and crazy patterned, vibrant coloured mix-matched socks. Even though the outfit the figure wore was utterly ridiculous and would have been too lively for even a circus he still frightened Valkyrie to the point where she felt like there was a heap of snow piled up like a small mount Everest in the bottom of her stomach. The carnival clothing was made up for with its terrifying face. The features were all melted shut in a blank expression except for the eyes. But the eyelids had been burnt away leaving red and black-charred flesh around the dark eyes. The thing couldn't even blink, it's gaze was unwavering and continuous. Valkyrie immediately knew this was the Unnamed. A chilly tsunami of fog rolled away from him all over the city leaving everything blue, and frozen over in jagged spikes of ice and distorted by vapour. The entire place looked devoid of life despite the battles raging on its streets. Then the vision enlarged itself like a magnifying glass on Ellion with the god-killer sword dancing across the throats of Faceless Ones before they could move. They'd always been slow.

"But the god-killers were all destroyed by Darquesse, how are they in the vision?" Valkyrie whispered to Skulduggery beside her.

"They must be god-killers from Mevolant's dimension so we should be expecting some trouble with them too before the final battle." Came the response.

But then Ellion's singing sword became trapped halfway through the hood of an abandoned car and a Faceless One gestured to him. Alice appeared and was screaming his name at the moment his heart was ripped through his chest and her screams of panic became shrieks of pain and sadness. Vivi grabbed her hand and pulled her back, running away from the scene. Tanith was coming to find her nephew when she saw his body and stopped in her tracks, a Faceless One scraping its elongated nails across her stomach and throwing her body aside, assuming she was dead. But Tanith was still alive, although barely, and crawled away as fast as she could when the Faceless Ones became preoccupied ripping apart the new influx of Roarhaven mages. This image dispersed in the steam and a new one was brought forward in its position.

Ghastly Bespoke came running through fog, the Roarhaven road cracked and icy beneath his feet with the world moving around him. The scene wasn't exactly all-new to Valkyrie and felt familiar but she froze in shock all the same. But it wasn't until the Vision-Ghastly came to a stop at a lamp post that she realised she had seen something like this before, just in a different environment. Instead of ice and fog, it was crackled, dry and flame infested.

"Now don't I feel stupid." Tanith Low grimaced as she leaned with her back against the street light. Ghastly glanced down at her ruined midsection that was a mess of flesh and blood and torn fabric. Valkyrie turned to Skulduggery with a start but he was placid as always.

"How can this be the future? It's what we saw 16 years ago that was going to happen 15 years ago, but didn't happen at all because we sent Ghastly and Anton with Ravel to stop him from the first thing we saw in the vision. Ghastly's gone now..." she asked him in hushed tones, trying not to disturb Cassandra.

"I don't know. A lot of what we've seen so far wasn't in the vision last time. Which means we did something already that changed the future. We found Alice and Vivi because of the last vision, somehow something to do with them makes this happen, whether it's an illusion or not. But watch, try not to miss anything." He replied and she turned back to the mist in front of them to see the Ghastly and Tanith kissing evaporate to reveal future-Valkyrie bounding towards the Unnamed from behind.

She lifted the gun she was holding in both hands and called out Alice and Vivi's names for some reason. Present-time Valkyrie frowned. Future-Valkyrie shot and missed the Unnamed and it hit Alice and Vivi after they jumped out from hiding under the fallen ceiling of a crumpled building that had landed in the street. The gun's ray of light encased them like a shell and they glowed with bright white light. The two girls reached for each other and with their other hands tried to grab onto the Unnamed. Whatever Valkyrie was trying to stop them obviously failed because they succeeded in shifting her attention and keeping the Unnamed alive. Instead of being rewarded for it, though he snapped both of their wrists and caved in their heads using nothing but tendrils of tiny ice-particles rising from an ugly, bloody slit in its throat.

The Unnamed turned to look at where they were standing. His unblinking eyes staring straight at the present-time Valkyrie, Skulduggery and Cassandra and she felt boiling hot all of a sudden but her skin went freezing cold and her awareness of everything around her, even of Skulduggery's hand holding hers, went way. Mist swept the image away and she saw Darquesse, she knew it was, with her confident, witchy smile walking through the halls of Valkyrie's house in Meek Ridge, all the doors to the rooms ripped right of the hinges and replaced with jail bars. In the last room, chained to the wall were remains of people. She glimpsed a pile of bones and a torn fine tailored suit in a heap on the floor. Tanith hung upside down with a gaping hole the size of a soccer ball through her chest and her crimson-caked arteries and bones on the floor under her. Valkyrie's heart lurched and she felt queasy. Next to Tanith's body was Alice with her legs pulled from her torso and her ribs protruding from her sunken chest.

A moan of anguish escaped Valkyrie's lips at the sight of her little sister's mangled body. Then Dexter Vex was there. Well, what was left of him? His lips had been ripped from his handsome face but the rest of it was otherwise unharmed. Valkyrie was fairly sure this signified something and she thought back to the kiss she had watched their future selves share. From his neck down to his hips was his blood slick skeleton. The skin and his muscles that she loved so much had been picked from his bones and his insides had been taken out leaving his frames drenched in cherry-red. Her vision wavered and her heart shattered. The next gruesome death was China, her skin had been peeled off like a potato and the back portion of her skull was splintered showing a cavern where her brain should have been but it was scattered in bits all over her perfect outfit. Then Valkyrie saw her future self walk towards the room behind Darquesse. **_It's okay_** , Present Valkyrie told herself, **_future me will avenge them_**.

"So, do you like our artworks?" Darquesse asked Future-Valkyrie and she smiled.

"Our artworks look lovely. But more modelling clay has just arrived." Future-Valkyrie replied evilly and she gestured towards the room parallel to the one they were standing in. Saracen, Donegan, Gracious and Fletcher were all chained to the wall and were yelling.

"Valkyrie! You evil traitor! How could you! You deranged and deceivingly wicked venomous snake!" Saracen called to her and spat on the floor at her feet.

"I don't know I could ever have loved you! I can't believe I ever kissed such dirt! You lied to us! No one told us you were Darquesse! We trusted you, treated you like one of us but you were working on the other side the whole time! You were weak and gave in to her. Maybe you even liked it? What am I saying, of course you liked it! You loved it. Killing. You're a monster! I'd rather date Mevolant and the Faceless Ones all together than ever date you again!" Fletcher growled and Valkyrie's smile just kept widening and she brutally murdered them too in splashes of crimson and tortured screams.

Her friends hated her. Because she was evil. Because she had been working with Darquesse all along, she let her kill them and by doing so she killed them herself. It was so symbolic it couldn't be real, but it was the future. The mist cleared away and Cassandra sighed sombrely.

"Oh, dear, this is very bad." the old woman's voice was shaky and troubled. But also, scared. She was awfully pale and was trembling. Valkyrie looked down at her hands. Yep. They were shaking too. The last part of the vision came into her mind loud and clear.

**_Alice._ **

**_Dexter._ **

**_Skulduggery._ **

**_Tanith._ **

**_China._ **

**_Fletcher._ **

**_Saracen._ **

The images of her friends annihilated bodies enough to send her head spinning and bile rose in her throat. She bolted up the stairs two at a time and rushed into the bathroom just in time to throw up.


	70. Day 1; 8:05 P.M

The forks and knives clattered as the chattering people at the tables ate their meal. After Skulduggery and Valkyrie had gone to see Cassandra, China had booked for herself, Fletcher, Saracen, Gracious, Donegan, Ellion, Vivi and Alice to go out to a pub in Roarhaven for dinner. The two men who had come to serve them were ugly with rotten skin. One was fat and the other was skinny.

When Alice first saw them she whispered to Ellion, "What happened to them? They look like something that died!"

"Something like that." Ellion had chuckled at her accuracy, leaving Alice confused.

The two deformed men spoke to Saracen and China like they knew them but China looked like she wanted to punch them in the face and Saracen looked bored out of his mind. Alice sat next to Ellion and the two spoke about Harry Potter the whole time.

"Who's your favourite character? I love Tonks, Luna, McGonagall, Neville, Lupin and Ginny. They are all my favourites." Alice shoved a forkful of her steak with Dianne sauce into her mouth.

"Yeah, I love them all too. But Ginny's character in the movie is so underdeveloped. My favourite character has to be Sirius, he's awesome." Ellion replied.

"Yeah, I agree on the Ginny front. Aww, I love Sirius too! I cried so much when he died. If you had to choose one character to date in the series who would you choose?" she asked.

"Oh, that's a hard one. But I think I'd choose Ginny in the end just cause she's so feisty and determined. What about you?"

"Oh, either dean, because in the books he's pretty awesome, sweet and a great drawer and is kinda attractive, Or Neville because he's so adorkable and brave, or Fred or George because they are hilarious and so smart." Alice grinned.

"Well, you do have a wide range of qualities you like in a guy. But which character do you think you'd be most like if you were in Harry Potter?" Ellion Questioned, expecting her to say Ginny or Hermione but her answer surprised him.

"Hagrid." She said simply. No thought required, just 'Hagrid'.

"Hagrid! Why Hagrid?!" Ellion burst out laughing.

"Because I'm trustworthy even though sometimes I slip up and tell secrets but it's always to people who would do good with the information. But I also love animals like he does. Oh, and when I brush my hair and it's dry it goes all frizzy and I look like him."

"That'd be a sight to behold." He snorted and she laughed.

"Seriously though, I dressed up as him for a class competition and my friend Dove dressed up as Luna. We won. Maybe I'll be Hagrid for Halloween and I'll show you." She shrugged. "So who would you be?"

"I think I'm a mix of Dean, Neville, George and Fred." He responded.

"Oh, what a coincidence. All the guys I said I'd date." She rolled her eyes, but it was good-naturedly.

"What can I say, Hagrid's perfect for me." He said and they both erupted in fits of laughter. Next to Alice was Vivi and she was talking with Saracen about the bachelor.

"Oh, I predict with my third eye of 'I know things' that Richie will end up with Alex," Saracen told Vivi and her eyes opened in wonder.

"Oh! Did you hear the news? Richie's already married with the girl who won and it's out of Alex, Olena and Nikki!" she told him and his jaw dropped.

"No way! How do you know?" he was so interested in the subject it was hilarious.

"I saw it on the cover of a magazine I stole from the angry man who owns the old shop here last week," Vivi exclaimed.

Gracious leaned over to Alice and Vivi from the opposite side of the table. "Hey, do you two know the X-men really well?" he asked them and they stopped their separate conversations.

"Yeah, we're pretty close I guess. They took us in and taught Vivi how to use her magic. They tried to help me but I kept getting sick for some reason and I would black out every time I tried. But Logan has a real soft spot for Vivi. I'm closer to Storm. At the moment I think they're on a mission for China. She's gotten them to spread throughout the world and keep tabs on the known supporters of the Faceless Ones." Alice told him and he squeaked. He actually **_Squeaked_**. And watching a heavily muscled, very strong-looking man squeal wasn't something she saw every day.

"What are they like! Are they like their movie selves? Or are they completely different? How much of the movies are real?" Gracious gushed his questions like Nyan-cat spewing a rainbow.

"Uh, they're pretty much the same. And the stuff in the movies is half-true, half-not. They made things more dramatic. Most of the actual mutants don't remember any of the stuff actually happening because of the whole time paradox thing that you probably saw in the Days of Future Past movie. But Logan and Professor Xavier filled the X-men in after Logan's mind from the previous future that went into the past came back to the new future Logan's body." Alice frowned at Gracious's squeal.

"Will I get to meet them?" he breathed heavily. In fact, he appeared to be hyperventilating.

"Probably, if not soon you will eventually," Alice said and Gracious screamed so loud the whole place stopped and stared at them.

"Sorry," he whispered sheepishly and everyone went back to their business grumbling about here not being a mental institution in Roarhaven. Vivi inspected him and decided she liked this weird little man.

"Do you want to play with me?" Vivi asked him. He looked hesitant and nervous but she slid her chair back and walked through a portal, appearing behind him. The pub was so full that no one even noticed. "Do you wanna see my toybox?" she said in a sing-songy voice and without waiting for Gracious's consent she tugged him through another portal. Unlike her other portals, that were a blue light, this one glowed red.

"Oh no. This isn't going to turn out well." Alice shook her head and went to stand up. Ellion took her arm and pulled her back down.

"Why? What's going to happen?" Ellion asked her and Donegan peeked inside the portal. A loud ear-piercing scream that belonged to Gracious emitted from the red glow before Vivi re-appeared, waved goodbye, and closed it off.

"That. That was going to happen. Donegan, prepare to say goodbye to your friend. No one who ever goes into Vivi's toybox comes out quite the same. Or at all. There are horrors unimaginable in there. Even the bravest men would run screaming. I've never dared to go inside because personally, I don't have a death wish." Alice informed them.

"Wait, this has happened before?" Donegan questioned with panic.

"Taking care of her is such a chore sometimes, and it's not like it's easy." Alice defended herself.

"Have you always had to take care of her like you're her mother?" Ellion asked and Alice nodded.

"Ever since I was 8."

"You need a vacation."

"Yeah, but I can't exactly leave her anywhere without me."

"Maybe not yet but I'm sure we can offload her somewhere and sneak away."

"I'm sorry, we?" Alice grinned.

"Well, I'm not gonna let you go alone without your guard dog. I don't want you to get yourself in trouble. In the short time that I've known you, I don't think it would be too hard for you to find yourself in a situation." He smirked.

"I'm a lot of things, but trouble is certainly not a hobby of mine." She snorted. "I'm not exactly a rebel. I'm that schoolgirl who gets straight A grades with the occasional B's, always top effort. Never breaks rules."

"People change people and I've seen how fiery you can be."

"Only if people deserve it."

"There are a lot of those people in our world," Ellion said and Alice gave a small smile and looked into his chocolate brown eyes. To some, it might look like an adoring gaze. **_If only you knew that you would consider me as one of those people,_** she thought to herself, **_if only._**

"Wait. People, who go in there do come out though?" Donegan asked, tapping his fingers on the table nervously.

"Mostly." She answered with a frown and went back to eating her meal. Donegan went pail and looked at Gracious's chair with worry. 


	71. Day 1; 4:00 P.M Dexter's time, 9:00 P.M Ireland's time;

When Dexter Vex got off the plane the first thing he noticed was not the American accents. Nor was it the fast-food American's called 'Jack in the Box'. No. These things stopped entering his radar a few decades ago. He'd travelled so much that the foreign things didn't seem so foreign anymore. The first thing he noticed was the person following him. Undoubtedly a mage. Vex also noted that this person was not a very good spy. So, he was most likely not working for professionals such as the Sanctuary, but for people with limited options. People like fugitives. People like Nadir and Nye. This meant that the news of his objective had reached the ears of Nadir or Nye or one of the two's accomplices just as he'd planned. This mage was sent to take him out. Dexter now had a lead to whichever one sent the spy. He'd go for whoever that was first and then find the other. All Dexter had to do now was get the person alone and find out who they were, what they were planning, when they're planning it for, who they were working for, why, where their employer is and then take it from there. Easy.


	72. Day 1; 9:00 P.M

On the drive back from Cassandra Pharos's house Skulduggery was quiet. And that was odd.

"Why are you so quiet?" Valkyrie couldn't help but ask. She'd been thinking about it for minutes. Usually, after something like this they discussed the vision, any leads they got from it, any information or theories. Stuff like that. Not play the silent game.

"I find it slightly unnerving that what you saw doesn't give you enough reason to think that I would be silent." He replied.

"I know what I did in that part of the vision was pure evil. But you're the one telling me to let go of the past and the whole me being Darquesse thing. It hasn't happened yet. We can change it. I'm going to change it." Valkyrie swallowed, her mouth suddenly feeling dry. If Skulduggery, the person who always stood by her and wasn't affected by her being Darquesse, was acting like this because of what he saw...then how would everyone else react.

**_ We trusted you, treated you like one of us but you were working on the other side the whole time! You were weak and gave in to her. Maybe you even liked it? What am I saying, of course you liked it! You loved it. Killing. You're a monster! _ **

She didn't want people to start losing their trust in her. Valkyrie knew she'd never willingly do what she did in the vision and she knew better than anyone that the vision doesn't always show you what you think it does. The worst of the last vision was all an illusion they fed to Darquesse. Could this be the same? But she had a feeling in her bones that this threat was more than Darquesse. Darquesse was in the past, her future wouldn't just be Darquesse coming back again and again. Like every other instance, there would always be something bigger to challenge her. There had to be more to it.

"Valkyrie, what you did in that last part of the vision was completely justified. You had every right to say those things." Skulduggery told her, tenderness in his words.

"What? How could any of what I did be justified?" she frowned in confusion.

"Well, I think you're forgetting the little fact that I tried to kill you." Skulduggery replied, ashamed. His words were quiet. Low and Grave.

"But I'm the one who teamed up with Darquesse and killed you all with her. What are you talking about?" Valkyrie replied.

"Darquesse? What? Darquesse is dead. What are **_you_** talking about?" he asked her, now his turn to be confused.

"Wait a minute. You didn't see Darquesse and I teaming up and murdering you all?" Valkyrie sat up straighter. Immediately interested in what was happening.

"No. Why, is that what you saw?" Skulduggery stopped driving in the middle of the empty country road. Now that the purring engine wasn't drowning it out the sound of the wind blowing through the rustled treetops and the tall grass fields filled the two detective's ears.

She nodded and they sat there in the peaceful sound of nature for what seemed like an age.

"Curious. We were both there seeing the vision at the same time but we didn't see the same future." Skulduggery thought aloud. Valkyrie could practically hear the gears churning in Skulduggery's head beside her. He gave a positive hum.

"So, you've figured it out then?" she asked hopefully.

"Nope, not at all. A group of sparrows have just flown over those tall trees," he said, a smile in his voice, and turned the keys in the ignition to bring the car to life again. The sound of the Bentley cut through the chirping birds and whispering wind and the tires roared as they sped off toward Roarhaven.


	73. Day 1; 9:00 P.M

"So, did you kick Vivi's butt in training today?" Ellion asked Alice and she went quiet. Saracen must have known because he stopped his conversation with China to look over. Alice put down her knife and fork as she finished her dessert and prepared for everyone telling her she was better than what she was doing.

"Uh, no actually. Vivi beat me twenty-four to one." she replied and stared down at her plate, ashamed.

"That's okay, you can get her next time. Not everyone can be good at everything." Ellion shrugged. "When I first started training I was terrible. The worst in my class actually."

"Really? You're not mad and disappointed that I'm not living up to my family name by not being as good as Valkyrie?" Alice whispered so only Ellion could hear her.

"Of course not. You're your own person. You're not mini Valkyrie and I don't expect you to be." he told her and she smiled. A genuine smile.

"Thanks. I feel that some people here do expect me to be as good as Valkyrie. Like Myosotis. She kept saying that I was better than what I had been doing and when Valkyrie was my age she could do all these things that I had no idea how to do"

"Valkyrie also started off when she was 12. She grew up training for it. Myosotis is just trying to drive you."

"I guess. But how is putting me down and comparing me to my sister supposed to make me want to continue and not give up?" Alice frowned.

"Well, you're still here, aren't you? She's just assuming that you want to be like Valkyrie. That Valkyrie is your inspiration." he explained.

"Why would I want to be like Valkyrie? I'm me, not her..." Alice started but soon realized the connotations of what she'd just said. She kind of did want to be like Valkyrie. She was jealous of Valkyrie. And being jealous is just wanting what another person has for yourself. And she did want what Valkyrie had.

"You see, I have been observing the way you are with your sister. I have come to the conclusion that you're trying to be like her. The person that you're using as your cover is very similar to Valkyrie. You're trying to be her and you'd don't even realize it. So, your subconscious is covering your jealousy of her with hatred and anger. I think you'd actually get along with her quite well. But because the mystery girl, the real you, is different from Valkyrie the brutal style of fighting that she uses is not going to work with you. You're like me. You're strategically smart. If you want, we can do one-on-one training together so I can help you find what your best at and we can work on it so you can blow everyone away in your test. Not everyone can fight like Valkyrie and Myosotis." Ellion told her all about his 'observations'.

"That sounds great. But, you know, all of these 'observations' are leading me to become suspicious of something. You're not stalking me, are you?" Alice grinned and to cover his embarrassment Ellion pointed at her with his fork and swallowed his mouth full of mash potatoes.

"That was your inner Valkyrie Cain speaking, not you." he pointed out playfully and she nodded.

"Right, I need to get used to being me. Wait, how can I be me if I don't know who 'me' is." Alice frowned.

"We need to find who that is first," Ellion replied and she nodded again. Just then there was a red flash of light and Gracious's hands appeared through Vivi's portal clutching at the ground, trying to resist a force on the other side that was trying to pull him back in.

"Help! Help me, someone! She's crazy! She's murderous! Just please let me out, I'm begging you! It's like a stuffed toy hell! And she's the devil! They're all alive and moving and creepy! Please help!" Gracious screamed, terror in his eyes.

"Oh my god! Gracious, what happened?" Donegan yelled and took hold of Gracious's hands, pulling him out of the portal. As soon as he was free Gracious stood up and ran shuddering and crying out the pub. Vivi came out through the portal effortlessly.

"Oh, sorry about that. My toys liked him. They wanted to each keep a piece of him. It was a frenzy in there." she smiled happily and closed the portal, sitting back down in her chair. Donegan, Ellion, China, and Saracen eyed her carefully and she just sat at her chair smiling innocently. 


	74. Day 1; 9:20

The Sanctuary cleaner and repairmen that China had sent down to fix the cell that Alice broke descended down the winding staircase into darkness. He found the cell the Grand Mage had told him to fix and he did his job quickly and sufficiently. As he was gathering up his tools and preparing to leave for the night something in the corner caught his eye. He stepped closer to inspect it properly.

It was a small cylindrical bottle with a dozen tiny pills. He picked it up. There was no label. He shrugged and put the bottle in his work bag. He'd take them to the Grand Mage the next day when she was back at the Sanctuary and he was getting paid for being there. For now, he was tired and his wife was making meatloaf wrapped in bacon for dinner.


	75. Day 1; 9:30 PM Ireland time, 4:30 PM Dexter's time

"Thank you, for choosing the Lotus Hotel. Please enjoy your stay." The pretty lady at the counter said and Deter Vex gave her a dazzling grin.

"Thank you, for your wonderful hospitality." He responded and as he walked away the young lady at the counter giggled with her co-workers like schoolgirls. After all, it wasn't every day someone came across a man like Dexter Vex. He looked back just before he entered the elevator. The man was still following him. The mage got into the elevator and Dexter pressed for the penthouse floor and the doors began to close. Just the two of them. Dexter knew once those doors closed the mage would take his chance to kill him. His muscles tensed and the doors closed.


	76. Day 1; 9:31 P.M Ireland time, 4:31 P.M Dexter's time

Dexter was the first to move. He slammed his body into the man and pushed him up against the cold metal wall. The man shoved his elbow into Dexter's face and he felt his nose shatter for the second time in the last nine hours.

"I just got that nose fixed." He growled with pain and smashed the man's face against the wall repeatedly. The mage dropped to the floor but before Dexter could land a kick into his side the mage grabbed the Dead Man's leg and pulled. Dexter fell onto his back with a grunt. Then the man was on top raining down punches. Dexter twisted his hips and pushed the man off him, and now he was on top. He pressed his palm into the side of the sorcerer's head and felt his hand grow warm and start glowing with sizzling energy.

"If you don't do exactly as I say, I'll blow your brains out onto the ceiling of this elevator. You're going to stay quiet and we're going to continue the conversation in my room. You understand?" Dexter whispered menacingly and clicked a pair of handcuffs onto the mage's wrists.

He led the man through the corridor, checking both ways for anyone coming and swiftly opened the door to his hotel room and shoved the sorcerer in. Dexter shut the door behind him and pulled a chair into the middle of the room and pushed the man down into it.

"So, who sent you to kill me?" Dexter asked.

"Drop dead." The man spat out blood and it sprayed across Dexter's boots.

"I'm going to ask you one more time. Who sent you to kill me?" Vex repeated and the man remained silent. "You're loyal. I respect that. But you tried to kill me. I have a girl I need to get back to. This girl happens to be one of the most important things in my life. So, if you waste my time, you're going to be sorry. I know you know who I am and what I can do. You've heard of the Dead Men. You've heard what we're capable of. So, answer me before things get ugly. Who sent you?"

"Silas Nadir." The sorcerer glared.

"And who are you? I've seen you before. In the war." Dexter frowned and observed the sorcerer's face.

"Oliver Raze." The man replied and Dexter took a step back in panic.

Raze gave him a manic grin and Vex bolted to the bathroom and shut the door before the explosion. It was silent but deadly and he'd only seen it done twice before. But afterwards for half an hour or so he couldn't use magic. A deadly trick that wipes out everything living in the room. When Dexter came back into the room Oliver's head was stooped low and he seemed to be asleep. That was odd. Dexter had never seen Raze pass out after a wipeout explosion. Vex took out his phone and called Saracen Rue.

"Hey, Dexter, we were just heading home for the night. It's like, what? 3:50 for you? What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into now?"

"Oliver Raze. You remember him?" Dexter spoke in a hurry, not bothering with small talk. "Faceless Ones supporter."

"The magic bomb guy? The one with the weird science magic obsession?" Saracen asked. "Yeah, I remember him. He was an elemental on our side and then he swapped sides because Mevolant promised him the magic he wanted. An explosion of magic that sucks the life out of everyone in a room no matter how big or small and kills them forever. No soul left."

"Now I remember, he was one of Guild's exigency mages. Never liked him, too power-hungry. But how did Mevolant give him the new magic?" Dexter turned his back on the out cold sorcerer.

"He sent him to Nye and the creepy Crenga did it. He's been seen in America with Nye on a few occasions recently.

"Nye? What the hell would Nadir be doing with Nye?" Dexter pondered out loud.

"Why all the questions about Oliver Raze? Saracen questioned.

"Because he followed me from the airport and tried to kill me. He's shackled on a chair in my bedroom." Dexter replied. "Raze said he was sent to kill me by Nadir. If Raze is in the fold with Nye that means Nadir and Nye are working together for some reason. But neither of them are leaders so they're working for someone else."

"What?! What are you going to do with him? He's too dangerous to keep alive. But you can't kill him. We're not at war with America now and it'd be against the peace laws. And it's not like you can take him on a plane and bring him back to Ireland to arrest him if every half an hour he can kill everyone in the same room as him." Saracen gawked from the other end of the phone. "By the way, he's not really unconscious and he's sneaking up behind you with a silver platter."

"Thanks for that Saracen. I thought something was off. I have a plan anyway. I'll call you later if it works and I'm still alive." Dexter told his friends and prepared his body for a fight.

"Remember, strike from the shadows..." Saracen began their motto.

"Disappear into the darkness." Dexter finished and hung up.

He turned and expected to see Raze facing him ready to swing the platter at his head but instead Oliver was diving out the window and crashing down the building into the 3-meter-deep swimming pool. He dropped the platter down before he hit the surface to break the impact. Dexter let him think he got away but he hurried down the stairs, into his car and drove out from the parking lot. As he expected, Oliver had just gotten into his car and was speeding away. Dexter followed discreetly. Soon Oliver Raze would lead him straight to either Nye or Nadir.


	77. Day 2; 6:00 AM

Alice had another rough night sleeping on the cold cell floor and she started her wait until 6:30 when she knew Ellion would come and get her for breakfast. She'd never been one to wake up early, but the nightmares were getting worse. She'd heard the footsteps and a figure was coming towards her from the gloom. He was early.

"Couldn't stay away from me, could you, Ell?" she smirked but the closer the figure came the more she recognized the short woman who came forward.

"Alice! Oh, my poor baby! What have they done to you?" Melissa Edgley sobbed at the sight of her daughter in jail.

"Mum? What are you doing here? You and dad are meant to be back at your house in Dublin." Alice frowned, not particularly overjoyed her mother was interfering again.

"These...freaks, have put you in jail! In a dungeon. How do I get you out?" her mother asked, searching for a way to open the barred door.

"Mum, freaks? These freaks are my friends. Your precious daughter Valkyrie Cain is one of them too. We're sorcerers, not some experiments gone wrong!" Alice shouted, enraged.

"Don't say that, honey. Don't give up yet. You can still be normal. It's not too late to forget it all and come home!" Melissa began.

"Why would I want to go home? I'm where I belong. Vivi and I are really fitting into this world..." Alice lied and began to argue against her mother. Of course, they weren't fitting in just yet. But her mentor has told her such horrible things about these terrible people in high places deceiving the rest of the magic community. She had been sure they'd show her their true colours soon and she'd have evidence against them and expose them to the rest of the magical population as the evil tricksters they were. But the more time she spent with them, the more she realized they weren't as bad as she'd been led to believe. 

"That boy, Ellion, you think he's your friend? Sweetheart, they're sucking you into a dangerous world you're not ready for just like they did with Stephanie. You're too young for this." Melissa began to raise her voice.

"Mum, it's my life! Not yours! I'm not the second chance you had at raising Valkyrie! I'm my own person. What if I don't want to be 'normal' as you call it? It's not like I have a choice anyway! I'm a freak and as you so correctly demonstrated mortals, like you, hate us. I'm never coming back! I can't. I'm in too deep now to pull back. If I do he'll kill me! He thinks I don't know what he's going to do when he doesn't need me anymore. He may be trying to do the right thing but it's a very top-secret operation and he'll need to get rid of all the evidence if it doesn't work and because of all those who don't believe in what he's trying to accomplish for this world! I need to do everything he tells me or he'll kill me! Maybe if I listen to everything he'll trust me and he'll spare me!" Alice stopped screaming and whispered helplessly. "I don't want to die."

Alice let go of all control she had and let loose. She became aware of the hot moisture dripping down her face. She didn't know where that had come from or why she'd told her mother but she knew it was all true.

"Who's going to kill you? Is it that Ellion boy? What is going on here?!" Melissa panicked.

"I'm fine Mum. Just leave, I'm safe here, safe from him. If I go now, he'll find me. I need to stay here. Just please go home. They're protecting me." Alice lied to calm her mother down because she saw her mother's shock and distress.

"I've lost you. I've lost both of you." Melissa whispered and ran crying from the jail cells. Alice dried her eyes and took deep breaths leaning back against the wall. Her mother's voice echoed in her head.

**_It's not too late to forget it all and come home!_ **

And her own shriek, so high and desperate.

**_If I do he'll kill me!_ **

A headache pounded at her temples and she shut her eyes. With every stab of pain came an image as fast as lightning in her mind.

_-A moist cave wall-_

**-Flash-**

_-jagged black crystals-_

**-flash-**

_-a ball of energy pulsing and a young man reaching out to touch it-_

**-flash-**

_-a body with melted skin caught hovering in a bubble of silver air-_

**-flash-**

Alice fell forward onto her knees with a gasp of pain, sucking in breaths of stale air. And anger. Hot white anger wrung through her. The slice on her arm throbbed and more pain spread through her body from that point. Pain and anger. She felt like breaking down the door, setting fire to everything...and murder.

Killing.

Blood.

Screams.

Alice laughed and was only dimly aware of how evil it sounded. She coughed and blood sprayed from her mouth as if her body was rejecting something. She raised her hand and fire shot from it through the bars. She opened her eyes with a start and saw a golden glow emitting from her diminish and her bloodlust faded and she wanted to curl up and cry. The fireball died out. She shouldn't have been able to do magic in a magic binding cell! What magic could be strong enough for them not to work on her? What was happening to her?


	78. Day 2; 8:00 A.M

"Can you please pass the orange juice?" Vivi asked Skulduggery and he passed it to her.

The smell of grilled sausages and eggs was wafting around the pub that was now open for all meals of the day. The friends all chatted energetically. Tanith had shown up and was speaking with Saracen, Valkyrie, Fletcher, China, and Skulduggery about the vision. It was confidential information so Vivi and Alice weren't allowed to hear and Ellion was 'babysitting them' as Alice put it. So Vivi was entertaining herself by attempting to gain China's attention and give her a batch of cookies that she'd made earlier with Clarabelle. The two had poured strong hallucinogenic drugs into the mixture so China was lucky she was refusing. The Monster Hunters, due to the toy-box fiasco, hadn't shown up for breakfast with the rest of them. Next to Valkyrie was an empty chair with a plate full of untouched food.

"Val, are you going to eat that?" Ellion asked, pointing to the dish.

"It's for Dexter." She replied.

"Val, Dexter's not here. He's gone to America." Fletcher told her but she wouldn't accept it.

"He'll show up, you watch." She shook her head and refused to let anyone touch the plate of food.

"Valkyrie, Dexter called me last night. He's in America. But by the sounds of things, he'll be back soon because he's already got a lead that he's following up." Saracen told her and she sighed in defeat, pushing the plate towards Ellion.

"He'd better be back soon or I'll kill him myself." She grumbled but was secretly worried about his well-being. Fletcher watched her closely and took her hand under the table.

Then Ellion noticed something strange. Alice (who usually ate a lot) hadn't touched her food. She was staring glumly at her plate and moving around her egg with her fork limply.

"Hey, why aren't you eating?" Ellion nudged the girl next to him. She'd been quite distant since he'd gotten her that morning from her cell and seemed in a hurry to get away from the dungeons. Not that he blamed her though.

"My, uh, my mother came this morning to try and convince me to go home and forget about magic. She called us...freaks." Alice sighed and told him quietly so no one could hear her. She wasn't telling him the full truth though. She was more worried about what was happening to her with the vision images and her sudden urges to destroy everything.

"Oh no. She's one of those parents." Ellion looked at her sympathetically.

"One of what parents?"

"There are parents who aren't magic but their kids are and they flip out and don't want to accept it o they try to hold them back for their own protection." He explained.

"She wasn't like that with Valkyrie," Alice whispered and Ellion frowned.

"Yes, she was. Tanith told me that Val's mum never wanted her to be part of this world and when she found out she tried to make Valkyrie quite her job. It seems she's still like that. Some people are lucky and their parents grow out of it after the initial shock is gone." he told Alice.

 ** _Great,_** Alice thought, **_this is all I need. On top of my role in the upcoming war and worrying about how I'm going to play it I have to worry about my overprotective, magic-hating mother as-well._**

"Racist people." She muttered to herself and Ellion choked on his bacon with laughter. She shot him a smile.

"Come on China, please eat them! I made them just for you." Vivi continued pleading with the Grand Mage, her puppy-dog eyed wide and...puppy-doggy-ish. When China declined once again the look of innocence was replaced with rage. "Just, EAT THE DAMN COOKIES!" Vivi screamed in her face and China just sat there placid as always, not responding. Vivi roared and slammed the plate of cookies down on the wooden table, leaving them there and storming off to speak with a hopeful looking Clarabelle.

"Hey, can I just ask, how do you two get clothes? I mean, you were wearing your school uniform until your first training session, and then you got into training gear. But then after that, you had a shower before dinner and magically had other clothes. Which you are wearing now. How? " Ellion blurted and Alice laughed.

"Well, China had some brought in for us to choose from, so when I have my shower after my training sessions she sends a few outfits to the bathrooms everyone uses after their training sessions and we choose from them. Our old clothes get taken by China's assistant and are dry cleaned and put in a special wardrobe China had installed in her chambers for us." Alice replied.

"Oh, that makes much more than my theory of Vivi pulling them out of her toybox. Oh damn. I almost forgot!" Ellion cursed and looked over the Valkyrie and Skulduggery in alarm.

"What is it?" Alice asked.

"We forgot to tell anyone about your Darquesse theory." Exclaimed Ellion and she opened her eyes wide in realization.

"Skulduggery, get your skeletal butt over here! We have to tell you something important about your investigation that is absolutely...uh, important." Alice yelled at the skeleton detective and he and Valkyrie swapped seats with Saracen and Tanith to sit next to the two teens at the other end of the table.

"First, never call my butt skeletal again. Second, if you've forgotten your pet dragon in your attic this time we're not going to get it." Skulduggery grumbled sarcastically.

"Look, leave the sarcastic comments to the side for a moment, please. I know it'll be hard but I'm sure you can manage to stay alive without them." Alice replied sassily.

"Skull, this is serious," Ellion told him and he became attentive. "Thank you. Now, Alice has to tell you something you definitely won't like but try not to go bat-poop on us. Before I tell you, you need to tell me about the first vision and the new one."

"That's classified information that Alice shouldn't even know enough about to have a theory." Skulduggery said strictly with a pointed glare at Ellion. "However, lucky for you, Valkyrie, and I never follow the rules."

Alice smiled at that. "Tell me everything you know."

"The first vision came almost a year after Valkyrie left. We heard rumours at first. Rumours coming out of the mouths of homeless drunks and crazy people in asylums and prisons. So naturally, they were ignored and the Sanctuary didn't even hear of them. Until a few years later when professional psychics started seeing the same thing. I did a little digging and found out that it had been going on for at least four years longer than we thought. So, we began looking into it until we were dragged away to solve a grizzly sequence of murders. So, we dropped the case for a while. After that, we were swamped with minor cases of rebelling sorcerers after the peace treaty of the war of the Sanctuary's and a few old Faceless Ones fanatics were coming out of the surface. The mysterious visions were left alone for a while." Skulduggery told his story and the others listened intently.

"Then we got a call from Finbar Wrong. He'd had the vision too. We decided it was time to take this seriously. I dropped the case I was working on and it was passed onto Myosotis and the German sanctuary. This is about seven years after Valkyrie left.

"That's the year I moved to Greece!" Alice exclaimed. "It had something to do with you, didn't it?"

"Exactly. I got a call from Cassandra. She had a promotion that she was going to have the vision everyone had been talking about. So, I went over to see it. What came first was just a ruined city. All over Dublin. Everywhere was hit except for Roarhaven. The Unnamed came to Roarhaven with its army of Faceless Ones and there were flashes of battles and our friends dying. The Dead Men, Monster Hunters, and Tanith and China were captured and executed in front of everyone. Two girls did it. One short with dark skin and long black hair and a childish look about her. The other slightly taller but still short, dark curly hair, olive skin. Teenagers. The sanctuary sent out an interrogation warrant for them and received reports of them around Alice. We figured they were after you. We told your parents to move. Wherever you went the reports followed so you kept moving. From various places in Greece to Cyprus. It continued until a few months before Valkyrie came back. When we got another call from Cassandra. Another vision, I took Tanith this time. It was very different. But short. It started the same, the only difference was that the battle started at Roarhaven. Up until the firing squad. Somehow, we got out and it skipped how. Next, Valkyrie was running towards the two girls as they were about to save the Unnamed from an attack the Monster Hunters were about to spring. She shot at them and then I appeared and ran towards them. There was a close up of the Unnamed's face and his gaze was directed at the Sanctuary, then it ended. We brought the battle towards us by paying attention to the first vision. We planned and plotted and waited for Valkyrie to get back and discovered after months of the two girls not being sighted reports came in of them near Alice at school. So, we came to get you and found out you two were the girls. We must have changed something else because the new vision was even more different." Skulduggery explained.

"In the vision, we just saw, there were lots of things that didn't make sense. Things that shouldn't be possible." Valkyrie began, thinking about Ghastly. A part of her swelled with hope. Could it be possible? Could Ghastly come back to them? She remembered what Skulduggery had said and the Ghastly he'd encountered in the Necropolis. Would Ghastly even want to come back?

"But what actually happened?" Ellion prompted her, snapping Valkyrie out of her dream state. She relayed the entire vision to her younger sister and her best friend's nephew, leaving out a few scenes. These few scenes included Desmond's death, Ghastly and Tanith's reunion, her and Dexter's kiss, Ellion and Alice's fight at Gordon's house and Ellion's death. She couldn't bring herself to tell the boy he was going to die. Or to tell Alice her father was going to be killed horribly.

"It all fits!" Alice said excitedly to Ellion. Valkyrie felt a wave of guilt crash over her. She knew Alice had just as much right to know their father's fate as she did. After all that Alice had been put through because of her, Valkyrie didn't want Alice to go through the same things she'd been. She felt she needed to protect her. She knew Skulduggery noticed her withdrawal of information but she knew he'd drop the subject until he wanted to make a point or it was important. Among all of these thoughts raging in Valkyrie's head, she still felt her curiosity spike.

"What fits? What's your theory, Alice?" Valkyrie questioned.

"What if Vivi and I aren't actually bad in the newest future? I mean, you said it yourself, by seeing the future and interfering by bringing Vivi and I into the sanctuary what if you changed our point of view on the entire thing? What if we were part of the plan to stop the Unnamed and we weren't trying to save him?" Alice told them.

"But that would mean that Skulduggery and I were evil because we were working against you." Valkyrie frowned and Ellion shook his head.

"No, because in the vision Skulduggery was never seen working with you at that particular point. He was just going towards you. It might not be you at all Valkyrie, but someone who looks like you. Exactly like you. It might be Darquesse. I may not know much about what happened, but I know enough to have figured out where she went and that she looks exactly like you." Alice revealed and Valkyrie's heart jolted as if electrocuted.


	79. Day 2; 8:05 A.M

"But...it can't be! She's dead. She went through the portal and into the Faceless Ones' realm. They would have ripped her apart!" Valkyrie shook her head. She could already feel a migraine coming on.

"But you didn't actually **see** her die, did you?" Alice asked, a smug grin on her pretty face.

"Alice is right. The Faceless Ones didn't kill me when I was stuck over there for 11 months and everyone knows they could have within the first minute. They just played with me like a bored child with a new toy." Skulduggery contributed his thoughts to the conversation and Valkyrie felt her anger rising.

"Darquesse was not a toy. Darquesse would pose more of a threat than that. They would have gotten rid of her as soon as possible." Her voice growing louder, fuelled by her rage.

"To 10 Faceless Ones, maybe. But without a god killer weapon and hundreds - maybe even thousands - of Faceless Ones? Darquesse would have been nothing more than a doll. Sure she'd be able to pick off a couple of tens of Faceless Ones, but she wouldn't stand a chance against all of them. There is every possibility she's still alive in there. All someone would have to do is find an isthmus anchor and a teleporter." Skulduggery said firmly to Valkyrie

She slammed her hand down on the table with a loud BANG causing everyone at their table to go quiet and stare. "She's **not** coming back. **Ever**." She stated and grabbed her leather jacket from the back of her chair and walked out.


	80. Day 2; 8:06 A.M

I'd better go after her and talk some sense into her. Then I'll head over to the sanctuary and organize for someone to keep an eye out for anyone at Paddy's old farm. We need some mages to start re-enforcing some of our old defences at the keep. I'll get Tipstaff to tell China when she gets back to her office, I wouldn't want to interrupt her dinner. She won't show it, but she never eats anymore." Skulduggery said more to himself than anyone else and left after Valkyrie.

Alice looked to Ellion. "How has he noticed China hasn't been eating? She never eats in front of people unless it's out." She frowned and Ellion wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"Ooh la la," he mused immaturely and they laughed.

"Would one of you two care to explain?" Tanith asked her nephew and her best friend's sister. Alice sighed and prepared to tell the rest of the gang their news.


	81. Day 2; 8:10 A.M

The Crenga that called itself Doctor Nye began cleaning the blood from all his tools after Oliver Raze took Nadir away. When the shunter had come to it days earlier requesting the most peculiar operation and the odd partner that it was to work with, it had been rather confused about the purpose.

*FLASHBACK*

**_ "So can you do it?" Silas Nadir asked the tall creature with the unnaturally long limbs. It pulled down its surgical mask and peered at him with its tiny eyes. What do you think? If I could I would be starting by now." Nye said in its nasally high voice. "I know the language of symbols fluently but I have not yet discovered where the soul resides and this operation requires knowledge of both." _ **

**_ "So if I were to get another who knew where the soul resides, you would be able to perform the correct symbols sufficiently? You would be willing to work with this person if I brought them to you?" Nadir replied. _ **

**_ "You just assume that I will reveal years of my personal work with a stranger for your benefit? And what makes you think that this person will share their knowledge with me willingly?" the doctor laughed. _ **

**_ "You are forgetting that you are still a captive of the leftovers of Eliza Scorn's Faceless Ones' church. I am now part of this church and they order you to do as I say. As for your new temporary partner, they will do as I say. Do you remember years ago, the alternate dimension Valkyrie Cain disappeared into? Well, this person is from there and they will do exactly as I say because Mevolant will order them to." Silas shot back smugly. _ **

**_ "Why would Mevolant concern himself with the likes of you?" Nye laughed again. _ **

**_ "Because if this operation works, I can shunt Mevolant's whole army to this dimension to help bring the Faceless Ones and the Unnamed back to power just as every sorcerer left alive there wants," Nadir smirked and Nye stopped it's laughing. _ **

**_ "But where will you find another who is competent enough for such a task?" Nye frowned and bent down to his height, curiosity in its beady eyes. _ **

**_ "Maybe there is no one in this dimension but in this other one I already have someone." _ **

**_ "Will I be able to co-operate with this outer-dimensional alien?" _ **

**_ "I'm sure of it. You like working with yourself, don't you?" Nadir grinned and doctor Nye gawked in confusion at the weird statement. _ **


	82. Day 2; 8:15 A.M

When Skulduggery found Valkyrie, she was standing by the remnants of the blood-stained floor near the accelerator room, tears in her eyes as she watched the only remains of Stephanie Edgley in the dark where no ever went or remembered as hers.

"I know what you're going to say. I should be more professional. Try to keep my calm. I can't. You of all people should understand that, Skull." She said softly. "There is every possibility of Darquesse coming back. You were right."

"Actually all I was going to say is that there is something sticking out of your pocket." Skulduggery pointed out. Valkyrie glowered and pulled a hot pink singlet top out of her pocket. "That's the top that Stephanie bought." Skulduggery put a hand on her shoulder.

"I know. It's the top I was wearing before Darquesse took over for all those months too. I think I'm gonna burn it." She grumbled.

"Just because it brings back memories that may be painful, it doesn't mean that there aren't good memories with it as well. Everything that had happened has moulded you into the woman you are today, and I couldn't be prouder. It's hard to look at you and not see that gullible 12-year olf girl following me everywhere I went." Valkyrie opened her mouth to protest but he held up a bony finger. "Hush, don't interrupt my speech. As I was saying, the gullible little puppy has turned into the amazing, resilient young lady I see before me. Slightly cracked, yes. But it doesn't mean you're a bad egg. That egg was a bird who took flight under my wing and now you've evolved. From a protected egg to a bird and now an omelette. Yum, I always loved omelettes back when I could eat. I guess you could say that I miss omelettes. I think I might have slightly lost direction here but you get the point. So let go of the past. And to do that you need to face the fact that Darquesse is not you. She is not The Valkyrie Cain. Hero, daughter, sister, battle accessory, detective, and omelette.

Valkyrie gave a lopsided grin. "You're right. Remember the good times, savour getting through the bad. I think that's gonna be my new saying. It made me a stronger omelette. This time I'll be ready."


	83. Day 2; 8:18 A.M

"So let me get this straight. Darquesse may be alive." Saracen frowned, remembering what happened to him last time she was here.

"And someone might bring her back," Tanith said slowly.

"Yep, basically. So we need to prepare the town for another attack. China, do you think that you could work on making a stronger forcefield than the warlock battle?" Ellion asked. Fletcher got up and left without another word.

"I'll work on it. But for now, you need to focus on your training, Alice. You still might not make it. Besides, with enough training, I think you could become the best of us with the magic Myosotis told me you have." China instructed the teen.

"She will If I have anything to do with it. I'll train her myself. I know her better than any of you. With the exception of Vivi, of course." Ellion said. A determined look was glinting in his eyes.


	84. Day 2; 8:23 A.M

"Hey Val, can I talk to you?" Fletcher asked when he found his girlfriend and Skulduggery in the corridor outside the accelerator room. His gut-wrenching when he viewed the bloodstain of his dead previous girlfriend part of him still loved.

"Sure, I'll see you later Skull." Valkyrie smiled at her partner. Fletcher could see the steely look in her eyes and he knew it meant she wouldn't let her past affect her as much anymore.

"You okay?" Fletcher asked her when Skulduggery left.

"Yeah, I just really wish I could have one day when no one is trying to kill me or is possibly planning on destroying the world." She rolled her eyes.

"I think, that you need an escape." He grinned at her.

"What were you thinking of?" she smirked and took his hands in hers.

"Something different to our usual escapades." He replied vaguely. In a blink, they were gone.


	85. Day 2; 8:30 A.M

So what training do you have today?" Ellion asked with a mischievous smile as he and Alice prepared to leave the pub.

"Strategic realistic battle. Whatever the pineapples that is." Alice rolled her hazel eyes.

"I think I might have an idea." He chuckled. "You'll have fun"

"I don't define fun as me getting my butt kicked by Vivi and my teacher."

"Thank you for coming, I hope you enjoyed your breakfast. Please come again." One of the rotten men smiled at them as the other large one hurried to clear the table and Alice feared his remaining skin would split.

"Wait, I really wouldn't do that if..." Saracen tried to warn the fat man but it was too late and he bit down on one of the cookies Vivi and Clarabelle had failed to get China to eat.

The man Alice found out was named Thrasher (courtesy of the owner of the bar when Thrasher fell to the ground) started convulsing and foam spread from his swollen lips.

"Vivi!" Alice yelled out in horror. "You were going to give those to the Grand Mage!?"

"Don't worry, they'll get him all fixed up in the medical wing. You'll be late for your class if you don't hurry." Saracen advised her. "Just be glad China didn't eat them and no one likes Gerald - that's Thrasher's real name. Otherwise, Vivi would be charged for attempted murder on the Grand Mage."

Alice winced.


	86. Day 2; 8:35 A.M

"So where are you taking me?" Valkyrie questioned Fletcher as she twisted the handle of her bedroom door open. She had moved into Gordon's house and chosen one of the grand bedrooms for her own. She'd just finished applying her mascara and maroon lipstick. Her hair was pulled into a high messy bun with a few loose bangs at her face. Her colour choice didn't stray too far from black though with her black ripped skinny jeans, black pumps, and black top with red flowers.

"Wow, you look...wow!" Fletcher gaped at her from the doorway as soon as he'd walked in.

"Thanks, you don't look too bad yourself." She smirked at his navy jeans, scuffed leather jacket, and black converse. His hair was done up to its usual standard.

"Well, I'm always handsome. I'm taking you out on a surprise date. It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you where we were going."

"Fine, but I swear if we end up at some fancy place and I rock up like I'm going to a rock concert I will kill you **_and_** flatten your hair." She promised.

"I think you'll be okay." He grinned and held out his arm. "Shall we?"

"We shall." Valkyrie took his arm and suddenly the sweet silence of Gordon's house was overcome by screaming fans and loud music. "So you **_did_** bring me to an AC/DC remake concert?"

"Not quite AC/DC. Danny, actually. I heard you were the star so I thought I'd bring you here because I know how much you love yourself." Her boyfriend replied over the noise. "Didn't he write all his songs overnight and then booked out this concert hall in Ireland to see how many people he'd get and he's already huge? Something like that."

"You took me on a date to see a friend?" she deduced. "That's not really a date though."

"I thought that I could do one of those cute romance movie things and buy my girlfriend an adorable poodle or Pomeranian. But you're not really a cute puppy sort of girl and also I could not be bothered so I too you to see an old friend so **he** can give you a dog **for** me." He shrugged.

"Oh my gosh, Xena's here!?" Valkyrie's eyes widened.

"She's in his dressing room. We're gonna watch the show and then we're going backstage where Danny will greet us and take us to an all you can eat dessert buffet in his dressing room and Xena will be waiting for you. That way I don't have to buy you food either." He smiled and she punched his arm playfully.

"Nice to see how much you like me. I hate this 'date'." She growled with a smile.

"You **love** this date." He shook his head.

"Hate it." She insisted.

"Love it." He persisted and leaned and leaned down to give her a kiss.

"Mhmm, love it." She agreed and danced to the music. The strobe lights pulsing to the beat.

Soon Valkyrie realized the stories through the song were familiar. "When you said I was the star of the show, what did you mean?" she shouted to Fletcher over the music and singing girls in the audience.

"He wrote songs about the stories you told him about your life," Fletcher told her, proud of himself for knowing something she didn't. Valkyrie smiled to herself, loving this date more than she expected.

The unwelcome thoughts of Dexter Vex entered her mind and she wondered not for the first time...where was he now?


	87. Day 2; 8:45 A.M Ireland time, 3:45 A.M Dexter's time

The car Dexter Vex had been tailing since yesterday afternoon pulled into an old abandoned warehouse in the middle of a dark forest that had been difficult to manoeuvre through with his car without being detected that was also in the middle of nowhere. He'd followed Raze from the Lotus Hotel in LA to a hotel in Bakersfield for the night and off again in the morning to a drive-through for a very early breakfast and now to an old country town in California. Now he knew where Oliver Raze had led him. It was one of Nye's older warehouses. Almost exactly the same enchantments placed on it as his most recent one. Dexter twisted the keys out of the ignition and as quietly as possible disabled the spells on the warehouse that kept everything inside as dead as a zombie. Then he followed through the door he'd seen Raze use.

Dexter lifted a heavy serrated metal pipe and hefted it in his hands. It was strong and could be useful so he carried it in like a baseball bat. As soon as he's ventured inside the building he heard the engine of Raze's car start the spin of the tires as he drove away. Oliver Raze had disappeared but the low buzz of an old facility light caught Dexter's attention. He followed the sound to a lowly lit makeshift surgical room where none other than the Crenga doctor was stooped over a human brain. Dexter lifted the metal pipe and brought it crashing down over Nye's grotesque head.


	88. Day 2; 9:30 A.M

"Xena! I've missed you so much! Who's a good girl? You are. That's right!" Valkyrie embraced her massive dog as soon as Danny flung the door open to let them in.

"That dog is the reason why I had to buy five new pairs of slippers and replace one of the shelves in the shop. I swear she hates me." Danny smiled at Valkyrie. "Hi, you must be Fletcher, I've heard so much about you and your hair."

"Hey, likewise. I'm glad to hear my girlfriend loves my hair as much as I do." Fletcher replied politely and went straight to the free food.

"Thanks for looking after her, Danny." Valkyrie spoke up.

"No problem. But maybe next time ask someone else. I don't fancy chewed up slippers and knocked down shelves."

"Oh, she'll be going everywhere I do soon. I'm going to send her to be trained with my sister Alice's hell hound, Accalia. Then she'll be very useful on missions and hopefully nicer to people's slippers.

"She already did a great job with Gant and Jerimiah."

She did, didn't she? But we'll be facing a lot worse than that soon. Anyways, enough work talk. I came here to have fun. I loved your show! I can't believe you just wrote them practically overnight, booked a hall, fond some guys to play the instruments, sent out a few flyers and now you're a hit! All in the space of a few weeks too! Congratulations." Valkyrie smiled sincerely.

"Yeah I know, how crazy, right? Well, I couldn't have done it without your stories. So thank you. You're welcome to have free tickets anytime." Danny offered and Fletcher looked up at the perfect opportunity for another date he didn't have to pay for comically and succeeded in making Valkyrie laugh. She was having fun but she couldn't stop thinking about how Dexter was doing in America.


	89. Day 2; 9:45 A.M

"How's he doing?" Dr Synecdoche asked one of her assistant doctors as she walked into the supplies office.

"The ex-zombie Gerald? The one who calls himself Thrasher? Still hallucinating I'm afraid. That ridiculous crowd is still with him. I've got to give him a dose of strong sedatives but the ones that I had ready disappeared and no can find them." The doctor replied and rustled through the boxes to find what she needed.


End file.
